The Santa Cruz Waldorf High School

The Santa Cruz
Waldorf High
School: An
Approach to
Adolescent Social
and Educational
Concerns
©1997-2003 Mathew Bittleston
This book was created as an educational thesis project. You may copy, distribute and/or modify this document
for your own personal educational use, except as listed below, provided the copies or derivative works are not
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images on pages 37, 37, 39, 41, 42, 44–61 are copyrighted by other authors and may not be reproduced
without the prior permission of the respective authors (please see bibliography).
Mathew
Bittleston
Architecture
Thesis Project
Prof. Karen Lange
About the Santa Cruz Waldorf School
Contents
A
High
School
for
the
Santa
C
r
u
z
Waldor f
Introduction
Architectural Precedents
Design Issues
Waldorf Education
Rudolf Steiner
Educational Philosophy
Existing Conditions
Site Information
Context
Santa Cruz
Scope
Methodology
Case Study
Clinton School, NY
Goetheanum, Dornach, Switzerland
Other Educational Philosophies
University of California
The State System
Surrounding landscape
Catholic Schools
Codes
Zoning
Climate
Current School
Students and Teachers
History
Where they are headed
Buildings
Existing Site Buildings
Current building program
Site Proposal and analysis
Forested Site
Occupied Site
Site Selection
Intent
Mission Statement for Upper School
Concept and Exploration
Assumptions
Need for a High School
Financing
Montessori
Future
Programmatic Requirements
Spatial
Functional
Design Intent
Room Documentation
Technical Requirements
Daylighting and Environmental
Daylighting Solution
Structural
Circulation
Design Process
Transition of Words to Form
Documentation of Process
Model Documentation
Conclusion
Appendix
Bibliography
Choice of Site
1
Introduction
Any
one
who
has
csense
o m mwill
on
remember
“Schools began with a man under a tree who did not know he was a teacher discussing his realization with a few who did not know they were students. The students reflected on what was
exchanged and how good it was to be in the presence of this man. They aspired that their sons
also listen to such a man. Soon spaces were erected and the first schools became. The establishment of school was inevitable because it was part of the desires of man.… The entire system of
schools that followed from the beginning would not have been possible if the beginning were
not in harmony with the nature of man. It can be said that the existence will of school was there
even before the circumstances of the man under a tree.”
—Louis I. Kahn
I became interested in working on a Santa Cruz Waldorf High School as a senior thesis
project since I have always been interested in working on architecture for education, and this
particular project presents an interesting challenge: Waldorf schools already
usually have a definite look, inspired by the architectural work of Rudolf
Steiner. Does one take this form and just reproduce it again? How can one
look into what adolescents demand and need, and provide for that in
Architecture? Is it possible for the immediate community and the local environment to be absorbed into the architecture?
My whole family has been very involved in the
Anthroposophical world from my late Grandfather, Adam Bittleston, who
translated much of Rudolf Steiner’s work into English and was a priest in the
Christian Community in England; to both my parents who were Waldorf
teachers; to my brothers, sisters and myself who have all been to Waldorf
schools. Two of my sisters attended the Santa Cruz Waldorf school which is
currently only to eighth grade, and so I was made aware of their possible
future: a high school by the year 2000.
My contact through this has been Tori Milburn to whom I
am very thankful for her helpful information. The neighbors, too, helped
me, though they did not know of my affiliation with the school they love to
hate. And of course, Professor Karen Lange’s glasses have probably gone up
a few diopters reading this project this quarter.
— Mathew Bittleston
2
that
the
b
e
w
i
l
d
e
r
ments
of
the
eyes
are
of
two
The Santa Cruz Waldorf School was founded in 1976 and is located in the
Santa Cruz Mountains, about ten minutes out of the City of Santa Cruz and is an immediate neighbor to the University of California. It is a private school, with three kindergartens,
Waldorf teachers are dedicated to creating a
first through eighth grades and 210 students. It started at a different site down in Santa Cruz
genuine love of learning within each child.
and moved to this site in 1979, replacing what was a Montessori kindergarten. Since then,
the three parcels which form the current site have been accumulated through donations and
The aim of Waldorf schooling is to educate
loan-alliances created by the founding parents. Three double classrooms have been built over
the whole child, “head, heart, and hands.”
the years. Parents have always been the driving force behind this school, and will continue to
—Anthroposophy at Work
be in the future. It is the vision of current parents that would
project a High School here. The proposed maximum size for the
Elementary school is 245 students with a High School of approximately 120 (four classes of 30 students.)
The Santa Cruz
Waldorf School
and
Waldorf
Education
3
kinds,
and
arise
from
two
causes,
either
from
coming out
Waldorf Education
We shouldn't ask: what does a person need to know or be able to do in order
Waldorf education started in 1919 in Germany as a free school for employ-
to fit into the existing social order? Instead we should ask: what lives in each
ees of the Waldorf Astoria Cigarette Factory. Inspired by Rudolf Steiner, it is one of the fastest
human being and what can be developed in him or her? Only then will it be
possible to direct the new qualities of each emerging generation into society.
growing independent school movements in the world, with more than 600 Waldorf Schools
Society will then become what young people, as whole human beings, make
worldwide, and more than 120 in the United States and Canada. It places as much emphasis
out of the existing social conditions. The new generation should not just be
on creativity and moral judgement as it does on intellectual growth. Steiner believed that
made to be what present society wants it to become!
schools should encourage freedom of thought and creativity rather than serve the demands
—Rudolf Steiner
of Government or Industry. His education is an “application of learning
based on the study of humanity with developing consciousness of self and
the surrounding world.” (Anthroposophy at Work)
Waldorf schools (referred to as Steiner schools in other
One of the classrooms in the Santa Cruz Waldorf School, seen from
the back.The walls are painted with veils of overlapping pink.
parts of the world) are organized according to Rudolf Steiner’s ideas about
how children develop. There is no central administrative organization for all
the schools; each one is run as an independent entity, although there are
organizations which provide materials and contacts between them. Subjects
are taught in blocks as well as an on ongoing basis, returning in more depth
each time the subject is covered.
The curriculum integrates academics, and artistic activity,
to awaken a student’s “reverence for beauty and goodness as well as
truth.”(Spirit of the Waldorf School) Each class has a class teacher who travels, so to speak, from first through eighth grade with the same class. She will
teach the Main Lesson, which is a large block of time at the beginning of
each day, in which one subject is discussed in depth for a number of weeks.
The remainder of the day is organized into much smaller class periods for
the subjects that are taught on a regular basis.
In a High School, all the same academic subjects would be
offered as any other school, such as Calculus or other Advanced Placement
4
of
the
light
or
from
going
into
the
light,
which
is
Some subjects taught in Waldorf High School
college level classes, as well as Eurythmy* and other Waldorf-specific classes. There is no
9th Grade is concerned with bringing the knowledge of
forces that shaped the modern life—the solutions and
the problems—and fostering the latent idealism of
adolescents.
longer a class teacher, rather a class ‘guardian’ who is associated with the class and will teach
them in some classes. The main lesson blocks are now given over to intense study of specific
subjects taught by teachers with expertise in those areas. The curriculum is still balanced
Modern History
Industrial Revolution: Newton
between academic and artistic and practical activities, with art, music, and languages, for
Science: How rather than what; Heat engine, telephone
instance, still receiving high priority.
Visual Arts: History of Art (Greece, Rome, Middle
Ages to Enlightenment)
Waldorf education is thoroughly connected with the oral tradition, hence
English Literature, Poetry
teachers tell fairy tales in Kindergarten, moving through mytholo-
Mathematics: Mathematical proofs, probability, statistics, irrational numbers, regular solids
gies and bible stories and other epic stories in the middle grades.
Geography of the whole earth.
Reading and writing are not rushed, and are learned slowly after
10th Grade:
first gaining acquaintance with the alphabet artistically. In fact, all
Ancient world history: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece to
Hellenistic times
academics are de-emphasized in the beginning. Nevertheless, by
Drama: Greek dramas, epics; Shakespeare
Science:The Earth and what it is composed of
high school, students are on equal footing, academically and in
Geography of climate, vegetation, distribution of
animals, races
standardized tests, with students at State schools.
Chemistry: Salt-acid-base makeup of world
The upper school curriculum is, like that of the
Mathematics: Arithmetic,Transcendental numbers,
Trigonometry, Logarithms (growth in nature)
lower school, related to the child’s development. There is also
Geometry: Conic sections, ellipse to parabola to
hyperbola relations to infinity.
continued concern to keep their education as broad as possible.
11th and 12th Grade are concerned with looking at what
the world is.
It is the animal which rushes headlong into some special
function, running, climbing, burrowing, or swimming,
with its appropriate form of body and limb: the man holds
back, and preserves a physical structure adapted to none of
these things, but capable of them all. He is the least specialized of all the creatures of the earth.
(Harwood)
History: Christianity and the western world, relations
to nature of world view and meaning of life.
Legend of Arthur and the Holy Grail
Economics: Laissez-faire, Socialism
Literature and history of own country
Music
Sciences: modern science & other approaches (ie
Steiner’s)
Electricity: Radar, Radio,Television
Light: modern view, Colors: Goethe
* Eurythmy is a flowing, colorful, dance-like movement that interprets
the sounds and rhythms of speech or music. It is practiced by children
in Waldorf (Steiner) schools, as well as by professional performing
Eurythmists. Eurythmy is also utilized as a curative movement system
and is used to help heal many ailments, from dyslexia to sciatica to
headaches.
Botany: Single cell organisms, cell structure
12th Grade:
Zoology: evolution of animal forms
Architecture: relation to human body
5
true
of
the
mind’s
eye,
quite
as
much
as
of
the bodily
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925)
Steiner conceived three great interpenetrating systems in the human body
which for brevity may be called the head, the rhythmical [the lungs and the
Steiner, born in Austria, was a respected scholar of Goethe’s writings. By his
own accounts, he grew up having a stronger connection to a spiritual world than the physi-
heart] and the limb systems, and these three (in their several modes) as the
bearers and sustainers of the faculties of thought, feeling and will. The head
cal one. Early this century, he started giving lectures on his new spiritual science which he
system is the polar opposite of the limb system, as thought is the polar opposite
called Anthroposophy. Anthroposophy is described as a “phenomenological approach to the
of will. The rhythmical system forms the intermediary term between limb
spirit,” and leads “from the spirit on the human being to the spirit in the universe”. It
and head, as does feeling between thought and will.
— Harwood, The Recovery of Man
“embraces a spiritual view of the human being and the cosmos, but its emphasis is on know-
ing, not on faith. It is a path in which the human heart and hand, and espe-
cially our capacity for thinking, are essential.… But Anthroposophy is more
than self-development. Through it we recognize our humanity. Humanity
(anthropos) has the inherent wisdom (sophia) to transform both itself and
the world.” (Anthroposophy at Work)
Anthroposophy has given insights into many fields, which
are studied at the Goetheanum and worldwide. These include the arts
(speech, drama, painting, sculpture, music, and Eurythmy), sciences, archi-
tecture, farming, education. The healing philosophies of Anthroposophy
have been extended into medical practice by doctors. Patients are treated
wholistically, as a whole—body, soul and spirit—since illnesses are seen as
part of the whole human being. People with developmental disabilities and
mental retardation are treated as part of “the fabric of human experience”
and are looked after as such, rather than as people who by chance have
something wrong with them. Homeopathic medicine has much respect in
Europe and is gaining recognition in America.
Among the over 6,000 lectures and 40 books by Steiner
that have been translated into many languages, and interpreted in hundreds
more volume are studies of human temperament. These characterize people
6
View of the student-maintained garden at the
Santa Cruz Waldorf School.
The upper part of campus, showing (left to right)
the cottage classroom and two of the three
double classrooms.
7
eye;
and
he
w
h
o
remembers
this
when
he sees any
The Temperaments
Cholerics, related to fire, are pictured as short, upright,
with rising, prominent shoulders.They will speak deliberately, and to the point, with short, abrupt gestures and be
friendly as long as they are recognized as the leader. A
poor memory follows observing what is of interest to
them.
The sanguine person is slender, physically well-balanced,
but up in the air when they walk, tripping on their toes.
The air-related character has dancing, lively eyes and
graceful gestures as they speak with rather flowery, possibly untrustworthy information.While friendly and kind to
all, this person can be be changeable and superficial.
The phlegmatic walks like a steamroller, and is quite slow
and deliberate. Physically they are big, fleshy, quite jollylooking! Like the ocean, they are stable, methodical, trustworthy and interested in routine, but when riled up can be
absolutely devastating.
A melancholic—large, bony and with bowed head—is lost
in his own world and gives the impression of heaviness.
The earth character, who will never forget an injury or
insult since it is dwelled-upon. He is an intellectual, and
while observing little, it will be remembered and enriched
with his own thought. Melancholics tend to be egotistical
and vindictive, though self-sacrificing in cases of suffering.
They are easily depressed, and moody, and have poor relationships with others unless they are ‘fellow sufferers.’
by both physical form and emotional character. These characters are suppos-
edly expressed in everyone, but in varying degrees, with one prominent, two
secondary, and the fourth of tertiary emphasis.
(Wilkinson, The Temperaments in Education)
Teachers in Waldorf schools will try to understand their
students’ characters and through this understanding not only decide upon
their seating in the classroom, but how they are disciplined, what the
emphasis will be in stories told to them, how they are taught all subjects,
which patterns they are encouraged to draw. The philosophy is that like
should be treated with like, which is the homeopathic principle of medicine.
“To the sanguine one must be lively; to the choleric boisterous; to the
melancholic sad; and to the phlegmatic, indifferent.” (Wilkinson)
8
one
whose
vision
is
p
e
r
p
l
e
x
e
d
and
weak,
will not be
The lower part of campus, showing two of the double classrooms
at left and the carriage house and administration cottage to the
right.
9
Double classrooms
Double
classrooms
Cottage
classroom
Kindergarten
Proposed site 2
d
roun
Playg
Garden
Garden Shed
a d
r o
t
e n
e m
d
s
roun
e a
playg
E
ball
olley
v
d
ll an
etba
bask
m
Parking
Carriage House
p
i
r
e
G
r
a
Administration
d
e
Redwood Grove
Red field
Proposed site 1
Magic Meadow
10
too
laug
first
whe
sou
Site plan, showing layout of current site and relation to
proposed sites
Immediately to the east of the school is the University of
California Santa Cruz. The University, known for its beautiful site, opened
in 1965 and grew, one college at a time, to its current enrollment of about
10,000 students. Undergraduates comprise 90 percent of the students and
are affiliated with one of the UCSC colleges (Cowell, Stevenson, Crown,
Merrill, Porter, Kresge, Oakes, and Eight). The eight UCSC colleges—each
a separate community with its own buildings and administration—
are built around a core of shared university facilities. These include
the main library, performing arts buildings, visual arts studios, class-
rooms, and the natural sciences complex. Athletic facilities are
provided on the east and west sides of the campus. Through sepa-
Site Location
11
Existing Conditions
ready
to
gh; he will
ask
ether
that
l of man
Context
“…beyond
b
l
e
n
d
i
n
g
beauty
and
fbuuni lcdt ii n
o gn s,
rating the colleges into discreet parts, John Carl Warnecke and landscape
architect Thomas Church has incorporated the beautiful setting into the
architecture. Antoine Predock is the architect for the university’s new Music
Center. Critics complain that UCSC’s campus is not pedestrian-friendly. For
those who hate to walk, it is downright pedestrian unfriendly, since the
colleges are so separated it takes a long time to travel around the campus on
foot. Bicycles and automobiles are the dominant form of transportation.
The City of Santa Cruz five miles to the south east
has, over many years, developed a reputation for being quite liberal.
It is on the northern tip of the Monterey Bay, approximately 90
miles south of San Francisco. Recently, many citizens complain that
it has become pro–business, as ordinances are passed to prevent
people from sitting on the sidewalks, or playing drums after 6pm!
It is true that it has a diverse population, many of whom are quite
‘free-spirited’. Depending on where one goes in the town, on might
think the 60s had never ended. On the other hand, the city has
many very conservative citizens, who are vocal in the city government.
Major roads into the city are Highway 1 from the
south and north, mostly used by tourists and RVs, and Highway 17
12
through the Santa Cruz Mountains. Highway 17 is the town’s major
connection to the Bay Area. The city’s isolation costs it in financial strength,
but has maintained its small town feeling. The residents of Santa Cruz fight
any hint at improving the extremely dangerous road link between them and
the local metropolis for precisely that reason. The earthquake of 1989 still
leaves its scars on the town, but most of the empty lots have been filled, and
the downtown is quite a happening place (even if you are asked for change
every turn of your head). The surf and sun scene is a separate part
of the city. Many people spend hours out on the ocean, waiting for
waves, or catching them. This is California as the rest of the world
sees it. Down by the boardwalk, tourists enjoy the sun and amusement park rides, blithely not noticing the poor, graffiti’d, and
crime-ridden conditions of the residents around there. There is
almost always a volleyball game happening on the beaches.
Highway 9 (Empire Grade) winds into the mountains through a few small, tourist-supported, almost forgotten
towns (and many beautiful redwood trees) between Santa Cruz and
Los Gatos. Immediately north of the site on 9 is Felton, a small
town, financed by tourists, those who do not mind long commutes,
and I don’t know who else (the independently wealthy?).
Surrounding the site are redwood, oak and
madrone forests, some of which are in commercial lumber production, other areas are agricultural.
Zoning
13
Outlined is the location of the current school. Proposed
site locations are shaded.
Scale: 1:200
Parcel Map of parcel # 062-081-09
sh
ec
so
re
ch
ould
be
cologically
und
and
flect
the
haracter of
“RA” Residential–Agricultural District
Codes
Principal Permitted Uses. Single-family residential and agricultural (rural). Schools are permitted with ‘Approval
Level V’, which involves, at the minimum, a public hearing by the Zoning Administrator. (13.10.322 SCC)
This site is under the jurisdiction of the County of Santa Cruz. The Uniform
Building Code 1994 will be used for this school project. Some applicable sections are listed
Purposes. To provide areas of residential use where development is limited to a range of non–urban densities
of single–family dwellings in areas outside the Urban
Services line and Rural Services Line; on lands suitable
for development with adequate water, septic system
suitability, vehicular access, and fire protection; with
adequate protection of natural resources; with
adequate protection form natural hazards; and where
small–scale commercial agriculture, such as animalkeeping, truck farming and specialty crops, can take
place in conjunction with the primary use of the
property as residential. (13.10.321 (c) SCC)
below:
Chapter 3: USE OR OCCUPANCY
Group A occupancies
SECTION 303
Group E occupancies
SECTION 305
Group H occupancies
SECTION 307
Description of occupancies by Group and Division TABLE 3-A
Required separation in buildings of mixed occupancy TABLE 3-B
Chapter 4: SPECIAL USE AND OCCUPANCY
Atria
SECTION 402
Stages and platforms
SECTION 303
Chapter 5: GENERAL BUILDING LIMITATIONS
Chapter 6: TYPES OF CONSTRUCTION
Type III Buildings
SECTION 604
Type IV Buildings
SECTION 605
Chapter 7: FIRE-RESISTIVE MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION
Chapter 10: MEANS OF EGRESS
Minimum egress requirements
TABLE 10-A
Chapter 11: ACCESSIBILITY
Wheelchair spaces required in Assembly Areas TABLE 11-A
Chapter 15: ROOFS AND ROOF STRUCTURES
Minimum roof classes
TABLE 15-A
The site area is outside the Urban Services Line, and so it
is subject to the General Plan and Rural Density Matrix
Determination.The Residential General Plan Designation
is Rural Residential, which requires 5-20 acres per
dwelling unit.
“A” Agriculture
One single-family dwelling (SFD). Agriculture, farm buildings, animals. Greenhouses, caretaker’s quarters, etc.
“CA” Commercial Agriculture
One SFD, commercial agriculture, farm buildings, animals,
greenhouses, caretaker’s quarters.
“TP” Timber Production
Growing and harvesting of timber, agriculture, one SFD,
mining and organized camps.
The assembly hall will be classified as A-2. The
“SU” Special Use
Science laboratories will be classified as E except as provided in
This area is covered by the University of California
campus.
305.2.4. The school classrooms and buildings will be classified as E2. The fire and other safety information will be looked at as part of
this thesis. The fire code will set out the amount of materials
permitted to be stored in the Science lab store room.
Zoning
The site area is in the Bonny Doon planning area.
Empire Grade is the north boundary line for the Coastal Zone,
15
Codes and
Zoning
the
region
or Tculture.
h
e
y
sprovide
hould
putting this site inches from the touch of the Coastal Commission and a coastal zone permit
Biotic Resources
Agriculture
for development, although it is still clearly a sensitive site. It is zoned RA (see explanation
Scenic (Coastal Zone Only)
page 15), which allows schools, but, depending upon the neighbors, a building permit may
Mineral
be difficult to get. If there are community objections during the public hearing by the Zoning
Special Scenic
Riparian Corridor
Administrator, approval will wait on the planning commission, and then the board of supervisors, who will make a decision. The school is currently going through the approval process
for improvements to the lower school, to allow for increased enrollment. There is strong
community resistance to any growth in the area, though. Land immediately
surrounding the site is zoned TP, A, CA and SU. The site is not mapped for
restrictions regarding Biotic Reserves (ie. restrictions on areas allowed to
disturb), Critical Fire Hazards (ie heavily wooded areas, or other very flam-
mable plants), Watershed or Water Supply Watershed (severe restrictions on
septic systems and ground coverage), or Riparian Woodlands (extremely
sensitive biotic resources, which would probably disallow any development).
A creek, “Cave Gulch” (designated ‘Riparian Corridor’) runs through the
back of one of the proposed site locations.
Allowable coverage: 10% of the total area of the parcel.
Existing:
288,350 sf x
0.1
Site 1:
260,040 sf x
0.1
Site 2:
179,600 sf x
0.1
(forested) 266,100 sf x
0.1
Maximum height: 28 feet tall.
Two stories permitted maximum.
Setbacks:
Front: 40 feet
Sides and back: 20 feet
16
=
=
=
=
28,835
26,004
17,960
26,610
sf
sf
sf
sf
an
environm
e
n
t
embracing
the
physical,
Climate
Daily max. temp.
Santa Cruz’ weather seems to have an inverse relationship
Daily min. temp.
with the bay area. In the summer, fog often rolls in from the ocean and
makes it quite cold, whereas in the winter the sun will stay out much more
consistently. Monterey’s climate models the city of Santa Cruz quite well,
but once one gets up into the mountains a bit, the weather is more severe,
Comfort Zone
with temperature range approximately 10°F larger in each direction. During
the summer, it is less likely to be foggy than Santa Cruz and will get
hot. It rains more here than in Santa Cruz, and in the winter the
Santa Cruz mountains have been known to catch some snow—
which lasts a few hours—on cold years. The psychrometric chart
shows the weather consistently below the comfort zone for
Monterey. Bonny Doon has two micro-climates: Thickly forested
comfort
areas will trap the moisture from the night fog and stay cold most
cold
of the summer, with results very similar to Monterey. As soon as
very cold
one is in a clearing, though, the temperatures in summer will usually
be in the high 70s (°F).
Since no data were available for Santa Cruz,
Psychrometric Chart for Monterey, CA.The climate is
similar to Santa Cruz, but quite a bit colder than the
actual site micro climate, which is dependent on the
amount of tree cover.
Humidity Ratio
lb.Water/lb. Air
17
psychological,
and
swell-being
piritual
of
the
“Strategic Objectives”
Phase I
Current School
Create architectural schematics for full buildout of existing
school to include double classroom, community hall,
Eurythmy hall, woodworking, office configuration,
maintenance area, library, water storage, parking areas,
specialty rooms.
The school sits on a slope, with the buildings grouped around the top and
east side of the site. Three of the buildings contain two large classrooms and have decks in
front. There are a few trees in the playground area, which is in the center of the site. At the
Build double classroom with Eurythmy room, to be
completed Fall ‘98
top, near the kindergarten, is the garden area which the students work in to grow vegetables.
Improve existing playground equipment and safety for children.
There is also a small pond with flow-forms—a form of water fountain which is said to purify
Update maintenance of buildings and grounds.
the water—is near the bell which teachers ring to signal the end of recess. They have (a
Improve night lighting.
Create Emergency Power Source.
number of) full time teachers in addition to the class teachers, and various
Explore possibilities of High School location.
Improve woodworking facility.
part time teachers for specialty subjects—music, handwork, games (physical
Install water storage.
education). The administrative office is at the bottom of the site. When the
Install water treatment program.
Pave Roads and Parking areas.
school has large gatherings, as in commencement, the playground becomes
Phase II: 1998-2000
an amphitheater.
Identify location for High School and develop Site Plan
Construct Community Hall
Cottage classroom converted to library or specialty room.
Create facility for weather protected physical education.
Phase III
Open High School.
18
people
who
live
and
work
in
them.”
The
mission
Proposed Site 1
Proposed Site 2
Aerial photo to left shows the immediate
surroundings of the site. Above we can see the
proposed site locations and the location of the
current school.The road running down the
center is Empire Grade.
19
soft a tthe
e m esite
nt
committee
is
“to
maintain
Proposed Sites
There are two potential sites for the high school. Site one is south of the
current lower school and is preferred by the administration, as it would put them between
the upper and lower schools. It would also have easy access to Empire Grade. Its six acres are
completely undeveloped, and have some quite magical little trails through the trees. The
fairies must play here! The owners of this site would only be willing to part with it at a tidy
profit, even though they are not currently using it. It would be a pity, too, to take an undis-
Below:View of a clearing in the trees of location one (the Magic Meadow.)
turbed site and pull down the trees for building. The community would
probably have even more intense objections to it, since it is bordering the
road, and so would be visible as more development. The site has drainage
problems and is flatter than the other site, as the ground loses some of the
slope it has from the top of the existing site.
Site two is directly east of the current school, and is
accessed through the center of the school. The top half of it is quite flat,
20
aconsciously
n
d
develop
a
ct a hm pa u st
then it slopes down the hill similarly to the existing site. The native trees are
cleared from most of it to make an apple orchard, and it is used as fields for
growing (things). Currently the site is occupied by renters; the owners live
in Seattle. Only a small part of it is affected by the riparian corridor which is
still covered with Redwood forest. The single ten acre lot could be subdi-
vided into two lots; a four acre lot to build on, and the current six forested
acres along the riparian corridor. Major issues of this site would be access
and parking for the high school, since traffic of all kinds for a high
school located here may have to cross through the Lower School to
Flow Forms
access Empire Grade. The lower school classrooms divide the two
lots in half along the property line, which may work well to separate
Site 2
Existing School
Site 1
21
Facing North…
Above: Panoramic view of proposed site location two.
Right: Looking East down dirt road from the
Waldorf School.
22
…facing South.
…East…
recreation areas for the upper and lower schools, but allow close
association of the buildings for utilities and proximity.
The school’s site committee is currently looking
into potential High School sites, and their current building
program will influence this choice. The school’s neighbors are vehemently opposed to any further development in this community.
Although many people are opposed to that siting for the community hall, since it would destroy a part of the campus that the children love, if the community hall and other new buildings are made
at the bottom of their current site—in the “Redwood Grove” as the
children call it—the lower site may be a better choice to let both
23
cments
o m p our
liu
n
i
q
u
e
sur
roundings with
schools have easy access to it. Site two has the advantages that it has a larger size and pre-
cleared trees. By incorporating it as part of the school as a whole, they would no longer have
neighbors driving through the site at the current easement. Accessibility is better for the
lower site, but only if it is considered separately from the existing school. But overall, the
most important decision in the site selection is ‘will it help to make a unified school?’ The
lower site (site one) will spread the school out in a long stretch along the road, truly sepa-
rating the kindergartens from the High School. This is done in many large schools, but in
this case, the school population would only be approximately 400. Site two
provides the opportunity to develop a sense of community within all the
buildings, and eliminate a neighbor and their access problem through the
current site. For these reasons, the writer believes site two (to the east of the
current school) to be the better site choice.
Private house
Vehicles drive
through the school
along the current
easement to the
residence.
Proposed High
School site 1
Sketches of possible site layout, showing recreation areas
circled (site one above, two below). For site two, we can see
that circulation would not have to split the school in half.
Easement is no
longer a threat to
the lower school’s
playground.
24
Proposed High
School site 2
Intent
has
come
out
of
the
b
r
i
g
h
t
e
r
life,
and
is
unable to
This high school will be focused on the educational, social and develop-
mental needs of the adolescents who will be using it and express this in appropriate form.
Implicit within the high school will be the ideals of the Waldorf educational system, not
through direct copying of the form language of the work of Rudolf Steiner, rather through
a fundamental conception of how this particular case, in this particular site, with this particular community can best serve this particular Waldorf School.
For many youth, the most important part in their high school life is the
social aspect. In fact, some would be led to believe that the purpose
of high school in America is to provide a place for people to social-
ize. Whatever the argument, it cannot be denied that this school
must provide spaces that recognize the social needs of this age
group.
There is a strong argument—with which archi-
tects, and Rudolf Steiner, strongly agree—that the form of spaces
deeply affects those within them. If that is the case then the search
for appropriate form is my highest priority. Adolescents may look
like adults, but they are not developmentally adults. This is one
aspect that is of special significance, since it is difficult to find exam-
ples of architects taking these aspects into consideration; Steiner
provides some helpful guidance for what adolescents need at this
stage. The concepts of Anthroposophy will thus play a significant
role in the composition of both the exterior and interior spaces.
25
see
because
u
n
a
c
c
u
s
tomed
to
the
dark,
or
h a v i n g
This concept study used the medium of water colors and pouring instead of
painting with a brush. The goal is to remove preconceived pressures, and allow what is internal to be expressed. This can be related to a philosophy of education: not imposing ones will
upon children, rather allowing them to explore possibilities. Also, interest is centered in the
elves, gnomes, fairies who lived first in the area, and still play in the trees. Let them have a
place to still play in the architecture!
…no events can be described with zero tolerance.
—Werner Heisenberg
Of course, there is never complete elimination of the painter’s influence;
decisions have to be made about every aspect (what colors, how much to
pour, how to tilt the paper...) The results are still quite unpredictable, especially in the details. So, the randomness of the pouring technique is coupled
with my influence to make something which would not have happened had
I taken a paintbrush to the paper. The idea is to let willing and even feeling
do some— if, unfortunately, not all—of the creating. Then, the mind can
find things that are happening anyway, and develop them, pull them out of
hiding. Thus, something new is made, something that has had the opportunity to be before my preconceptions got into the act. It is something which
comes not from a one–sided mind approach, but explores the realms of feel-
ing and willing (the mind would otherwise quite happily let the other realms
go unnoticed.)
Can Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle be expanded
beyond the limited confines of particles and waves, or energy and time to
include the world we live in? How could we know if the reason we don’t see
the fairies is not that they don’t exist, rather that we don’t see? The
Concept and
Exploration
teenagers who will use this high school will, presumably, have attended the
elementary school, also. Will they have the same conviction that the fairies
26
turned
fd ra or kmness
to
the day is
Above: First concept painting was too messy and rather over worked.
Left: Second concept painting started to show a spontaneity and less
control. Images appear out of spilled primary colors.The hope was for these
primary colors to mix and create a rainbow of colors.
Over: Final concept study.
27
… what lives in each human being and
what can be developed in him or her?
28
dazzled
by
excess
of
light.
And
he
will
count the
dance in the Magic Meadow, or that the elves play in the Redwood Grove? To the younger
children, there is no question that the fairies are alive in their grove.
So the elves and fairies appeared through feeling and willing’s collaboration,
uninvited by my mind (which thinks elves are unreal), and I have drawn over the paintings
We had hoped that human errors would disappear and that we would ourselves
to show that there are fairies; it is not to say that I want everyone to see “my” fairies: What
have God’s view. But it turns out that the errors cannot be taken out of the obser-
an absurd statement! They do not belong to me, or anyone, for that matter. They merely exist
vations. And that is true of stars, or atoms, or just looking at somebody’s picture,
or don’t exist, depending on how you look for them.
or hearing the report of somebody’s speech.
—J. Bronowski, The Ascent of Man
29
Assumptions
one
happy
in
his
cand
o n state
d i t i oof
n
being, and
In order for this project to even exist, there has to be an assumption that the
current school needs a High School, and that the neighbors will not be so resistant as to
prevent its realization. The latter is a good possibility, since they are currently fighting tooth
and nail to prevent any development of the school’s site, modest as the school’s current
proposals are. The prospect of a high school is opposed as if it were an antithesis of the entire
neighborhood’s existence up there, no doubt based upon their perceptions of how huge a
high school is. Of course, the traffic—but what of community? A school is ripe with opportunities for community development (as the case study of Clinton School
shows). Therefore, I am going to have to assume that the school becomes
successful at realizing some community spirit, in uniting the community,
even, behind a high school, instead of against it.
Once approval is secured, financing of a large building
project always decides once and for all if the project will happen. For this
project, the financing will not be considered. It will neither be concerned
with the cost and possibility of acquiring the appropriate site, nor the cost
of the actual design (within reason). Cost will be a major determining factor
for the school: Actual site selection may be based almost entirely upon its
availability and cost, and looking at the current rate of building, the program
and structures would have to be frugal.
Obviously, everyone in the Anthroposophical world is
enamored with the Goetheanum, whether we speak of the first (destroyed)
building, or the second; the form-language has been carried to schools,
houses, theatres, shops, garden sheds world-wide, regardless of its appropriateness, creating what has been called a “Steiner-style” or “Steinerized”.
Rudolf Steiner created the Goetheanum with the specific intent that it be a
30
he
will
pity
the
other;
or,
if
he
have
a
mind
to
spiritual center. This high school is not a spiritual center, and while inspired
Adolescents? Adolescents need some place to conquer, to discover them-
by his teachings, will not be inspired by his formal language.
selves. Does education at the high school level necessarily have to be instruc-
Without getting into a lengthy study of Californian
tion in a classroom by a teacher?Possibly not a school in the traditional sense,
teenagers, a quite safe assumption will be that adolescents consider the most
rather a place of self discovery. The coops in Berkeley provide an interesting
important part of High School to be the social aspects.
study of how young communities can function. They are owned, run, and
Primary Design Issues
used entirely by youth for their benefit, to provide low cost living places and
The normative issues (A list of “of course”s):
provide the atmosphere that they want. There are new ways to look at how
Of course it will integrate with its environment and take
education and growth happens; Steiner and Montessori suggest how indi-
advantage of its beautiful setting; of course it will be made of healthful mate-
viduals learn, and it is not a passive process. Maybe the definition of what is
rials, materials that don’t create sick buildings; of course there will be vary-
a high school must change.
ing levels of privacy in the social environment; of course it will show linkages
to the surrounding communities; of course it will look at our culture, it will
be a product of our culture; of course it will express the philosophy of
Waldorf Education; of course it will provide for security of the students from
the road and from other harm; of course there will be legibility in its circulation, its layout, its use, its setting; of course it will be economical; of course
it will be sensitive to the community that lives around it and the forests that
border the community.
Issues and concerns:
How can the place be personalized to create ownership
among the users? This is a universal problem in institutional-type settings.
There is often an atmosphere in which places are more like machines, run by
unknown hands, than like communities filled with people, all of whom play
Design Issues
a part in its existence.
How will the Architecture provide for the needs of
31
Scope
laugh
at
the
soul
w
h
i
c
h
cfrom
o m
e
s
below
Early in the design process, it became clear that the concept
Michael Hall—significantly larger than the Santa Cruz Waldorf School
of making a school wherein classrooms were no longer needed involves
would ever aim to be, with sixty children in each year (1-12) and four
more than merely designing a building; the whole curriculum and process
kindergartens—has the luxury of large amounts of land for a very suburban
must also be found and developed. It is clear that the two would become
school setting in which the classroom and support buildings are spread out.
intertwined, but not clear whether, based upon my lack of knowledge about
The Santa Cruz project would have a small number of classrooms (four) but
and research into education, a better solution would be found, or if one
be quite large since it would have to have additional workshops to facilitate
would be found at all. The project would become exponentially out of
the hands-on approach of this educational system.
control. Therefore, the project was based upon the organization and
methodology of existing high schools, particularly the author’s personal
experience at Michael Hall Steiner School in England.
In a small school such as this, one cannot consider most
spaces as independent between High School and Lower School; most will
be shared between them. In many state school projects, architects and
school administrators go to great lengths to ensure separation of the upper
and lower school children. At this small school, though, the reasons for
separating the age groups are not so clear cut; financially, it would be
absurdly inefficient to attempt to create completely separate facilities for
both upper and lower schools. Through careful placement of the rooms, an
attempt will be made to both create an upper school community, and allow
the lower school access to the facilities.
Use of the quite tight site and relation to the surroundings
will present significant problems to grapple with. The project will be limited
to a study of the form for the school, and its language. Some concern will
be shown for environmental issues, but they will not be the driving force.
What makes this school so different from state supported
schools is the very broad range of activities, both physical and mental.
32
Methodology
The Clinton
School, South
Bronx, New York
Communit
ywith
Boardthe
3,
aofs s i s t a nthe
ce
The Clinton School
is an unbuilt project in the South Bronx, New York, that
was designed as part of the New Schools for New York program. The program was brought
about to discuss both why small schools are important in helping children learn, and the
benefits of integrating schools into the neighborhood. It challenged the preconception of
“economies of scale”; traditional policy in New York and many other school districts has been
to consolidate small schools into larger schools of 2000-5000 students each. Arguments
presented ague that an effective school nurtures the spirit, curiosity and determination of a
child, as well as providing a climate that is emotionally stabilizing and
encourages academic interest. (New Schools) Many Architects presented
designs. The solution by Roy Strickland, August Shaefer, and Caoline
Carson is presented here.
The Morrisania site is irregularly sloped up from Clinton
Avenue, and is surrounded by vacant lots and buildings which are beginning
to be rehabilitated. The vacant, fifteen city-owned blocks are two blocks
south of Crotona Park, in a residential neighborhood. The neighborhood
that has large school dropout rates, low academic testing scores, many
recent immigrants, and high incidence of teen pregnancy. Thus the students
are particularly in need of a school environment that helps them to be at
ease. or even acts as a sanctuary from the real world.
The Program calls for a Kindergarten through 12 grade
school divided into elementary, middle and high school. It also requires a
ConsumerF
a
r
m
e
r
Foundatio
n,
developed
a
ZONING: R6
The fifteen lots in this site are vacant and city-owned with
the exception of lots 43 and 47 which are vacant but
privately held. An R6 residential district is appropriate for
medium density housing. FAR for R6 ranges form .78 to
2.43.The higher FAR is granted for new buildings that
provide more open space. At an FAR of 2.43, for new residential buildings, the open space must equal 33.5% of the
total buildable square feet possible at that FAR. At a lower
FAR, the percentage of required open space decreases to
27.5%.The maximum potential square footage using an
FAR of 2.43 for the study site is 127,422.04 square feet.
R6 also requires for a narrow street on initial setback
distance of 20 feet. Please consult the City Zoning
Resolution for additional bulk and lot coverage regulations.
The lots with frontage on Clinton Avenue slope up irregularly as they stretch back from the street The two lots
fronting on Franklin Avenue are at a higher elevation than
the Clinton Avenue lots.The site, two blacks south of
Crotona Park, is in a residential neighborhood, with some
occupied housing, many vacant, rubble-strewn lots, and
abandoned buildings beginning to be rehabilitated.
Directly across Clinton Avenue from the study site are
several vacant lots. Lots 23, 26, 29, and 31 in Block 2934
are city-owned and may be considered for purposes of
the study as open space or play space for the study site.
ADDRESSES
BLOCK 2933
LOT
LOT:
DIMENSIONS
(feet)
634 Jefferson Place 34 25.00 x 145.60
636 Jefferson Place 35 25.00 x 145.60
638 Jefferson Place 36 67.06 x 72.58
1337 Clinton Avenue 48 58.01 x 100.00
1341 Clinton Avenue 47 22.80 x 82.66
1343 Clinton Avenue 46 23.00 x 82.66
1345 Clinton Avenue 45 24.80 x 137.51
1347 Clinton Avenue 44 25.00 x 137.46
1349 Clinton Avenue 43 25.00 x 137.41
1351 Clinton Avenue 42 25.00 x 137.36
1353 Clinton Avenue 41 24.79 x 87.36
1355 Clinton Avenue 40 24.23 x 87.31
1357 Clinton Avenue 39 24.00 x 87.26
1348 Franklin Avenue 19 22.20 x 195.00
1350 Franklin Avenue 20 23.60 x 195.00
LOT
AREA
(sq. ft.)
3650
3650
6318.8148
5801
1998.648
2016.18
3410.248
3436.5
3435.25
3434
2165.6544
2115.5213
2094.24
4329
4602
Total area of 15 lots = 52,437.055 square feet
35
community
needs
statement
and
plan
for
the
Morrisania
Program Requirements
health clinic, spaces for infant and day care, offices for representatives of social service agen-
Elementary, middle and high schools with extensive social
services, community services, health services.
cies. Thus the project would incorporate community service functions, so that it would act
Design issues:
more as a community center than just a school. The auditorium and meeting rooms would
Building(s) should facilitate casual interaction between
different age levels of children, while simultaneously
providing strong identity for each school. Spaces such as
auditorium, meeting rooms, gymnasium and some classroom areas should be designed for community access: it
should be possible to open such spaces in the evening
while keeping the remainder of the building secure.
be for use by both the school and the community. By using facilities during day and night,
the city would be making better use of infrastructure.
Architects may use the open area across Clinton from the
main site (identified in the neighborhood information) as
required open space or for some program component
such as the daycare or infant care center. Participants
should also consider possible uses of roof area. At their
discretion, architects may choose to include only one of
the infant and toddler care center or the daycare center.
Strickland/Carson/Shaefer created a pedestrian through-block passageway
from Franklin Avenue to a community “common” between the
middle/upper school building and the recreation buildings, created
Elementary school (grades K-5) for 250
students
10 class rooms, each with sink and toilet, storage areas
for children’s personal belongings, and work area and
secure storage for 2 computers
art / science workroom
special education classroom and office/resource room
principal’s office
general office
guidance office
2
offices for flexible use (for parents’ room, school
psychologist)
play area
teacher lounge
teacher resource room, including copiers, telephones, storage for teaching supplies
audio-visual equipment storage
public and staff toilets
Middle school (grades 6,7,8) for 150 students
5
classrooms, each with sink and toilet and computer
1
science classrooms
1
art/shop classroom
1
special education classroom
1
principal’s office
1
general office
1
guidance office with waiting area
36
C
r
o
t
o
n
a
Park
area.
The
Plan
recognizes
the need
Daycare and
Dormitories
2
offices for flexible use (for parents’ room, school
psychologist)
1
teacher resource room, including copiers, telephones,
storage for teaching supplies
1
teacher lounge
7
teacher’s offices (2 teachers each)
public and staff toilets
playground area
Facilities shared by middle and high school
Elementary School
1
music room with secure storage
1
home economics classroom with kitchen
1
shop classroom with darkroom
1
language lab
High school for 200 students
Cl
int
on
Av
en
ue
Sports Facility
Jef
fer
so
nP
lac
e
Middle School and High School
8
classrooms, each with sink
1
principal’s office
1
general office
2
science classrooms
2
art/shop classrooms
1
special education classroom
1
guidance office with waiting area
2
offices for flexible use (for parents’ room, school
psychologist)
1
teacher resource room, including copiers, telephone,
storage for teaching supplies
1
teacher lounge
8
teachers offices
student toilets
staff toilets
public toilets
Infant and toddler center for 25 children ages
2 months to 2 years 9 months (must be on
first floor) (see Design Issues)
Axonometric view of Strickland/ Carson/ Shaefer Associates’ solution, showing the Elementary school at the left, the Middle and
High school in the center, the sports facility at the bottom, and the
daycare in the converted tenements at the top left.
I
infants’ room, with sink
1
toddlers’ room, with sink
1
office
storage for cribs, toys, cots, toilets and washroom for children
Facilities to be shared with daycare center
37
fcommunity
o
r
schools
to
initiate
and
expand
outdoor play area
by closing Clinton Avenue. They want to encourage people in the nearby
kitchen
laundry room
elderly housing and the community to become part of the school’s activities.
eating area
toilets for staff and parents
Whereas most of the other solutions emphasized security by carefully
parents’ room
controlled entrance and exit from the building, Strickland /Carson/ Shaefer
staff room
looked to another kind of security. When schools are kept below 1000
lobby
social workers’ room
students, according to a 1974 presidential panel report, the teachers and
Daycare center for 25 children ages 2 years 9
months to 5 years (see design Issues)
1
three-year olds room, with sink
1
four-year olds room, with sink
1
office
1
toilets and washroom for children
administrators are able to recognize the students who belong in the school.
Security would be by active monitoring of the outdoor areas by teachers.
This is a far different kind of place than one which attempts to keep strangers
out by surrounding itself by a brick wall.
storage for cots, toys
The school is broken into three main elements. The
Spaces to be provided for each school or
shared, at discretion of architect
elementary school and daycare are on the south side of the through-block
library
passageway. The middle and high school are incorporated into one building,
kitchen
lunchrooms
and Strickland / Carson/ Shaefer expanded the program to put in a field
auditorium seating 500
3 rooms accommodating meetings of 50-125
house and outdoor sports facility on the southeast side of Clinton Avenue.
gymnasium, including boys and girls locker rooms, showers, 2 instructors’ offices
Nearby abandoned tenements would be converted for child care, dormitory
health clinic, including general preventive and prenatal care
and housing for the school and community.
waiting room
4
The Strickland / Carson / Shaefer project was modeled
examining rooms
office
after a hotel, rather than a school. In a hotel, the main floor commonly has
receiving, general supply, furniture, and book storeroom(s)
locker rooms for male and female building staff
reception, dining, and other guest services. The suites are in the floors
custodians’ office
above, with special spaces at the top. The two schools are organized simi-
suite of 4 offices with waiting room for use by social
service agencies or community groups.
larly. They have five levels. The first level has the library, which is shared
among both school buildings, and school administrative offices, as well as
the main entrance and the cafeteria. Below this level (at the Clinton Avenue
¶
elevation) are community service spaces, health care, delivery bay on
38
tand
u t oeducaring
te ni roi cnha- l
m e n t
Above: A transverse section through the site, looking southwest at
the Elementary school
Below: Elevation on Clinton Avenue, looking at the Elementary
school and the middle/high school building
Bottom: Elevation, showing the different levels.
Jefferson Place side, and the auditorium. The two school buildings
are connected at this level, under the terraced steps. Levels Two and
Three consist of classroom suites and teacher offices. At the core of
the design is the idea of the classroom suite: Two classrooms are
clustered in pairs “to dispense with anonymous corridors.” Each
Fourth Floor
classroom is a self-sufficient learning environment. There is a
Third Floor
computer/library corner, student work table and window seat. The
Second Floor
classrooms own directly to a teacher’s office. The terraces in front
First Floor
Ground Floor
39
programs,
aeducation
d u l t
cc o
u
r
s
e
s
,
ultural
of the classrooms can be opened up with sliding doors. Each classroom floor has four of these
suites.
On the top floor, under the eaves, are special spaces. Here are the art and
science rooms. These spaces are places to be used by the whole building. The windows are
north facing, and the skylights let in controlled lighting.
In order to fit both the Junior High and High Schools into one building,
Strickland/Carson/Shaefer divided the building across between the high school and the
middle school. The high school is on the north side of the building,
although they allowed the flexibility of dividing by floor, also. If each
floor is divided in half, each school has its own main stairways, both
enters through the same main front entrance by the library. This
allowed some communication between the Middle and Upper
schools. By having the High School students walk thorough what
feels like the middle school’s territory, rather than the other way
around, the architects avoid the intimidation that younger students
may feel in the High School. Roy Strickland emphasized that he was
trying to avoid corridors in this design by creating lounge areas in
the common circulation spaces.
41
askills
c t i v i t iand
es,
crafts
trainia t h
n l egt i c,
Floor Plans for the first level, second, and fourth
levels (counter–clockwise from above).
42
ee nv vei nr ot ns -,
m
e
n
t
a
l
education
and hortiThis project’s similarity of size and program made it an attractive case study.
There were problems lurking, though. As it is unbuilt, it is difficult to see what it actually
looks like, so a computerized 3d model is used to show some of its appearance. Obviously,
emphasis is on the High School building as that is where the detail has been developed. The
materials, and much of the appearance of the interior spaces were not obvious, and so could
not be modeled or evaluated; they will not be playing a part in this project.
I think Strickland Carson and Shaefer have provided the greatest interest for
me, though, in their inclusive approach. They have dealt with security and
community relations, two of the major issues of schools, in a wonderful way.
It really is not possible to create effective security in a large school unless it
becomes a jail, since many of the security problems schools have (for exam-
ple violence, property damage) are caused by people who are not part of the
school.
The Clinton School project shows how a small school
could be well incorporated into a community, provide a center for growth
on a non-commercial basis. To quote the writers of the program, this project
is, as hoped, “a distillation of many of New York’s educational and social
demands, the project may be considered at once experimental, specific, and
prototypical.” The program will be reflected in the Santa Cruz Waldorf
School’s program.
43
44
We
enter
with
reverence
into
the
spirit
in
order that
The Goetheanum is in Dornach, Switzerland; an organically formed, concrete building which houses the School for Spiritual Science. It is the second building in this place by
Rudolf Steiner, a student of the work of Goethe and founder of Anthroposophy. Steiner’s
mission was to create the building “out of the same inner laws that generate [everything that
is performed there]. Everything presented… must ring through the auditorium or assume
visible shape in such a way that the very walls give their assent, the paintings in the dome add
their approval, as a matter of course; that the eyes take it in as something in which they
directly participate.” I will begin with a brief description of the first
‘…a work of art is only justified if it in some way
Goetheanum .
transcends nature’. Rudolf Steiner, 1888
The first Goetheanum was built as a place for the
Anthroposophical society to show the Mystery Dramas written by
Rudolf Steiner. These were to present “that which anthroposophi-
cal spiritual science must convey out of its inner nature…” The
form of the building, and particularly the stage, was directly influenced by the needs of these plays.
The building was made of wood and cast in place
concrete, the latter forming a plinth for the ornately carved wooden
building. Viewed from the outside, the original building consisted
of two interpenetrating rotundas of unequal diameter constructed
in timber. Resting on these cylindrical elements were two corresponding cupolas roofed with slates. At their juncture two swings
extended towards the north and south, and a vestibule projected to
the west, also built in timber.
Much energy was put into visibly expressing the
‘upward-striving’ and the ‘downward-bearing’ forces and how they
45
The
Goetheanum
Dornach,
Switzerland.
46
The Goetheanum viewed from the banks of the river Birs.
Inset:View of the first Goetheanum
47
Plan and section of the first Goetheanum.
48
we
may
b
e
c
o
m
e
one
with
the
spirit
str eaming
held one another in balance. Columns were also interpreted as uniting the building with the
earth, ‘roots become architecture.’ While the widening base of the pillar is rooting the
column to the ground, the broad pillar heads provide the experience of supporting from
above. Another interpretation is that the pillars are both growing from the cosmic forces
above and from beneath the earth, as does a plant. This is organic architecture.
Comparing the axial building to the circular building, Hagen Biesantz
contends that the circular building creates a sense of rest, it removes any need to move away
from the central position. Biesantz writes that “it may be asserted
that the central building emanates peace and security in the
harmony of a cosmos, whereas the axial building provokes activity
and movement.” Thus he presents the reason for the double-
domed shape of the first Goetheanum; it “enables a new experience
of freedom in spatial perception, which is generated when the
rotunda and cupola effect is brought into a fluctuating equilibrium
with the longitudinal axis effect.” Since there is both the axis
created by the two rotundas and the harmony and rest of the dome
above, a person is given the choice of which experience—rest or
movement—is to take precedence.
Steiner’s views were centered around humanity,
and this was expressed in the Goetheanum . The circulation for the
Goetheanum was deliberately overlapping to give people the oppor-
tunity to interact and “gladly greet each other” as much as possible.
Steiner has quoted Goethe’s studies of metamorphosis in the
organic world. Themes would be articulated, repeated and varied
49
into
the
forms—for
sur
rounding
us
are
the Spirits
Interior of the cloak room.
Western front of the Second Goetheanum.
50
of
Form;
in
order
that
we
may
b
e
c
o
m
e
one with
consistently throughout. The construction began in 1913 and was almost complete in 1922,
the year of its destruction by arson.
The second Goetheanum is entirely of concrete and of far more angular
form than the first. Steiner was expressing his solution to giving concrete a “suitable and
genuinely artistic character.” He had used concrete only on the base of the first Goetheanum,
and a nearby house. Everywhere the theme of the open pentagon is intimated in the exterior
form of the building, but it is never actually expressed. The form of the western front, for
example, comes from several metamorphoses of the pentagon.
The program was expanded from the previous
program, so that the building would now house two stages for
eurythmy and the Mystery Dramas, storage rooms for the scenery,
space for the administration of the General Anthroposophical
Society, studios, lecture rooms. The second Goetheanum has two
levels instead of the one level of the first. The upper story is the
large auditorium for performances, whereas the lower floor has
smaller rooms for artistic and scientific work, as well as a rehearsal
stage of the same dimensions as the main stage, with an ante-room
for people to sit or wait. There is a circulation area which accesses
the rooms on the lower level and has a raw concrete staircase leading upwards to the main auditorium.
The main entrance is on the west side and leads
into an entrance vestibule leading to the cloak room and circulation
area for the lower floor. Here it is faintly lit with daylight from
above. Staircases on both sides lead to the auditorium above. On
the way up, these stairs open onto a landing with views out of the
51
52
Transverse section and second floor plan,
showing the great hall.
53
the
spirit
that
begins
to
move—
for
behind
the Spirits
large front glazed opening, a connection to nature. To the east and west are rooms and a
terrace from which one has views of the landscape, respectively. At the top of the stairway,
outside the doors to the main auditorium, is a large window of deep red engraved glass. The
When I am asked how the single form emerging from the whole is to be experienced,
I can only say this: Consider for example a walnut. The walnut has a shell. The
nutshell is formed around the nut, around the kernel, by the same laws as brought
the nut itself into being. You could not imagine the nutshell other than it is, once
the kernel itself is as it is.
—Rudolf Steiner
visitor, before entering the auditorium, can no longer see nature, but motifs relating to what
“the human being encounters when he turns away from nature and looks inwards to contemplate his own spiritual experience.”
The auditorium is trapezoidal, which adapts well as a spectator area, expand-
ing towards the stage. This foreshortens the depth experience for the spec-
tator. Although the space is excellent visually, it has acoustic problems which
still have not been reconciled.
To him [Steiner], architectural forms were organic growths
undergoing the same metamorphoses as plant and animal life. His goal was
to ‘imbue forms with life’, to establish ‘a harmony of supporting and down-
ward-bearing forces’ and to achieve a balanced ‘counterpoint of concave and
convex architectonic forms.’ The static, geometrical form of previous generations, he felt, were not adequate to express his new Spiritual Science.
The experience of walking inside this building is described
as moving around inside a giant sculpture. There are no smaller sculptural
motifs as there were in the first Goetheanum. The forms of bones and the
skeleton gave particular inspiration. Steiner’s buildings have an axis of
symmetry (in accordance with “the organic form principle”).
The circle dominates the plan and section of this building,
but conscious effort is made to avoid using the concentric principle alone.
From the structural engineers’ drawings for the formwork.
Two sections of the building in the west break out of the circle. Some
Anthroposophists see the circle as rigid, under the spell of a self-centered,
54
of
Form
stand
the
Spirits
of
Movement.
This is the
egoistic principle. “In face of the plain circle a person sensitive to form will feel that he is
placed on this own resources, resting within himself (a). To begin with this unarticulated line
allows of two characteristic tendencies. In the first of these, rounded protrusions appear in
the form of a wavy line (b), proclaiming the “victory from within”. In the other, a zigzag line
indicates that external forces have won the ascendancy (c). To round out the picture, atten-
tion is drawn to a third, less elementary development in this series, in which the wavy move-
ment shows a definite direction (d). The experience we are discussing can be induced by a
mere fragment of one of these forms (e).”(Hagen, The
Goetheanum…)
All buildings on the site face the main building.
Utility structures—the “Heizhaus” (central heating plant), the
“Verlugshaus” and the “Glashaus”—are sited on the north side,
a
b
c
d
whereas the private houses lie more to the south. The main build-
ing is zoned similarly, with the larger, northern (shadowed)
entrance used for access to the stage. Visitors and those who work
at the Goetheanum use primarily the West and South entrances.
Anthroposophists talk of how the materials for
concrete must pass through the four stages of the elementary states,
namely earth, water, air and fire. But the mechanical processes that
e
it must go through completely divorce it from life, growth and the
whole of nature. It no longer knows what it wants to be, or how it
wants to act, so must be formed out of human insight and artistic
sensitivity. Concrete’s high specific mass evens out the daily temperature curve, but also makes it always feel cold to the touch. This
makes us feel cold in the room, even if the temperature of the air is
55
new
architthought!
ectural
When
I
am
asked how
warm enough, and water will condense on the walls. By insulating the walls, the surface
temperatures are more comfortable, but the heat storage capacities of the concrete are
neutralized. In the Goetheanum, many of the walls have been left essentially uncovered, as
raw concrete partly because there is not enough money to cover them all. Some areas, such
as the west entrance staircase, have been deliberately left uncovered so as not to obscure the
purity of their constructional form.
While double curvature makes life hard for the person building the form-
work (they used thin strips of steamed wood, bent over a wooden
structure), it gives rigidity to an otherwise very thin shell. The engi-
neering of this structure is quite a miracle. The aim of Ole Falk
Ebbell was to make the freely modeled walls as thin as possible.
Though the use of reinforced concrete was quite new at the time,
the engineer managed to make the walls between the bracing quite
thin: 5-6 inches. This building’s form was derived from Steiner’s
philosophical understanding of structure rather than from some
engineering study of form, yet the double curvature and faceting
help to stiffen the surfaces, allowing thinner walls. He used the
doubly curved surface throughout the forms of the building,
observing that these shapes are present everywhere in the organic
world.
Steiner considered the color in a space to be very
important, whether it comes from colored light, as in the engraved
colored glass in the windows, or from painted walls. In the theatre
of the new Goetheanum—as in the old—outside light is filtered
through colored glass in the sequence of green, blue, violet, pink to
57
We have indeed reached a time in which, if man’s living contact with the
world is not to atrophy completely, it is essential that we begin to dive down
into the spiritual waves of the natural forces, that is the spiritual forces lying
immerse the space in color. The engravings, as with most of the interior of the Goetheanum,
were completed after Steiner’s death, and were mere copies of windows that were in the first
behind nature. We must once more gain the ability not merely to look at
Goetheanum. Their arrangement in the differently proportioned windows is not very satis-
colors and apply them here and there as external surfaces but rather to live
factory. Steiner wished to make the walls themselves transparent, so you experience the color
with them, to experience the inner living force of colors. We cannot achieve
this my merely studying the effect of a painting or determining the effect of a
color in this or that spot, this is by merely staring at a color. We can only
achieve it if with our soul we submerge ourselves in the manner in which red,
or blue for instance, flows and streams; we can only achieve it if the flowing
and streaming of color becomes directly alive for us.
“as an independent element, to make [them] eloquent.”(Biesantz) For this purpose, he
developed a technique of painting transparent veils of colors over walls in successive layers:
Veil painting.
In addition to the color, the form of the walls—how they show forms which
Left:The great Hall in the second Goetheanum
Below: Interior of a room in the Goetheanum
58
Above is the staircase in the west of the building.
Right: Looking up the west stair towards the first landing.
59
Attic studio in the south.
60
the
single
fe moe r gr i nm
g
from
the
whole is to
have a recessed character with influence from organic forms—was focused on furthering the
transparency of the walls. It is interesting that Steiner was not the only person of his time who
wanted to make the walls ‘transparent’. Bauhaus architecture was also searching for this transparency, although in that case, optically.
When one wonders at the huge energy expended on the creation of this
piece of architecture, on building formwork that took an expert furniture maker, rather than
a plywood–and–nails carpenter, the idea of form and function must spring to mind. For those
building the Goetheanum, form does follow function. In fact, if one
looks to that Adolf Loos was referring to a building stripped of all
embellishment, revealing only what actually serves the functions of
the building, he may be making more a cause for this building than
he was for the modern corporate architecture. In the latter, the real
functions of the building were not revealed, but in fact concealed
behind the familiar form of repetitive glass and steel modules.
Those who are using the building do not consider the
Goetheanum’s forms and shapes to be superfluous decoration, but
rather direct expressions of the functions of this building.
61
“do
we
train
children
to
fill
out
their
income tax
The State System
The goals of this system are based upon seven principles, which were devel-
oped at the beginning of this century by the National Educational Association’s Committee
on the Reorganization of Secondary Education:
1. Health
2. Command of fundamental processes (development of basic skills)
3. Worthy home membership
4. Vocational Efficiency
5. Citizenship
6. Worthy use of leisure time
7. Ethical character
These are looked at as very relevant—even more needed—
today than when first written. (Kenneth Henson, Secondary Teaching
Methods).
Much emphasis is put upon current society, and the
changes it is going through. The educational committees look at ways that
schools can help the youth deal with their world. A 1972 NEA committee
remarked on the ‘system’s break’ that society is going through currently as
we see changes happening in our experience of the world that are permanent; we no longer see earth as an infinite resource, there is mistrust of
government and institutions, people suffer from job alienation, the world
population grows by almost three million people every two weeks. To the
seven cardinal principles, the U.S. Office of Education and the National
Association of Secondary School Principals added consumerism, versatility,
Other
Educational
Philosophies
flexibility, helping students learn to feel positive about themselves, and
special emphasis on cultural pluralism. But schools are not looked at as the
62
rtoday
e t u r nons
tforms
o d a with
y’s
today’s
only educators of young people in modern society. Churches, synagogues, family, libraries,
museums, clubs, daycare centers, factories and even radio stations and television networks are
also organized to educate the people, albeit with their own agendas.
There is a definite emphasis on quantity: what is covered in the curriculum,
not much talked about how it is covered.
…It is perfectly clear that our society supports schools because of the belief that
Public education has gone through periods of curricular emphasis, from the
they make a direct contribution to the perpetuation and improvement of our
Subject Matter era of rote memorization and recitation, through the Psychologized subject
democratic way of life.
—Caswell and Foshay, Education in the elementary School.
matter era in which lessons were presented as preparation, presentation, comparison, generalization, and application. The individual-
ity of the Child-centered era after 1910 gave way to the Societycentered era after 1930 with an emphasis “not on civil society, not
on religious society, not on the society of the family, not an a soci-
ety for savings and loans, but on some nebulous and overriding
concept called society.”(McCoy) A criticism of State education has
been that there is overemphasis on educating youth to meet society’s
needs.
A more modern development has been again the
emphasis on the intellectual development of students as the unique
job of schools. As a result, some theorists have come up with the
new basics, based upon the previous ones, which include the need
to “learn how to live with uncertainty, complexity and change;
develop the ability to anticipate; adapt to new structures, new values
and understandings; see relationships, sorting and weighing them;
understand the facts of life (realities); become aware of alternatives;
learn to analyze the consequences of their chosen alternatives; learn
how to make choices; and learn how to work together to get things
done.
63
C
a
t
h
o
l
i
c
sexist
c h in
o othis
ls
cb oe u
n
t
r
y
cause
Principles of Catholic Education:
Catholic Schools
1.The subject of Christian education is man whole and
entire, soul united to body in unity of nature, with all
his faculties natural and supernatural, such as right
reason and Revelation show him to be.
Catholic schools exist in this country because public schools cannot include
2. Since education consists essentially in preparing man for
what he must be and for what he must do here
below, in order to attain the sublime end for which he
was created, it is clear that there can be no true
education which is not wholly directed to man’s last
end.
religion as a part of the education. As a religious school, it fundamentally serves—alongside
3. Since God has revealed Himself to us in the Person of
His Only Begotten Son, who alone is “the way, the
truth and the life,” there can be no ideally perfect
education which is not Christian education.
knowledge and practice of morality and religion. The education is concerned with the inner
4. Every form of pedagogic naturalism which in any way
excludes or overlooks supernatural Christian formation in the teaching of youth is false.
The Catholic form of education does not provide fixed
to increase factual knowledge—to encourage students to acquire “right habits, attitudes,
interests and ideals” and increase interest in a pupil’s own character formation, and in the
lives of the children, and so prayer, the sacraments, and grace are considered very important.
rules for methodology for the teacher, rather a set of principles based upon
5. Every method of education founded, wholly or in part,
on the denial or forgetfulness of Original Sin and of
grace, and relying on the sole powers of human
nature, is unsound.
the religion. To help the teachers educate the students, four approaches to
education are described by Redden Ryan (A Catholic Philosophy of
6.The school from which religion is excluded is contrary
to the fundamental principles of education.
Education): (1) The emotional, by which the pupils’ emotions are aroused;
The Encyclical of Pius XI, Divini Illius Magistri.
(2) the environmental, whereby concrete situations provide specific contacts
with objects and individuals; (3) The intellectual, by which the child comes
to know what is true by the recognition of facts; (4) the moral, which
emphasizes that conduct must conform with principles that are in agreement
with the individual’s rational nature and the moral law.
Catholics’ definition of humans’ free will, which enables
humans to “select good or evil,” is where Catholic education is separated
from the majority of other education. To Catholics, this physical freedom
does not imply that the person is morally free. The religion is clear about
what people “ought” and “ought not” to do, and sees the teacher as an
authority figure for children. “Authority…implies that dynamic influence
and wholesome guidance of the mature mind over the immature…. The
teacher’s authority is derived from a prior, justly constituted authority
64
p
u
b
l
i
c
education
is
unable
to
iamong
n c l u the
de
which, in its turn, has its source and sanction from God.”
There is a hierarchy, which puts controls upon the teachers. It is considered
the teacher’s “sacred duty” to teach the truth, which implies that the church believes there
One must distinguish immediately, therefore, between academic freedom, prop-
are absolute truths. The doctrines of the church, considered the truth, which “does not lend
erly so called, and academic license.… Oftentimes, ‘what one wants to teach’
may not be the truth. Indeed, it may be nothing more than individual opinion,
itself to individual interpretation,” are of course not to be questioned. This does not mean
misinformation, inexact notions of fundamental principles and issues, an
that teachers will not present their own hypotheses, if presented as such, and examine or
unfounded prejudice, or some personal conceit. Not infrequently, it may be
question them. They may present Darwin’s theory of evolution, but it would be presented as
plain, unadulterated error.
John Redden, A Catholic Philosophy of Education
a theory, next to the church’s truth that mankind was created by a
special act of God. Thus Catholic teaching stresses that humans are
more and superior to lower forms of life because they have “immortal souls” of which “the intellect is one manifestation or power,
reason another, and free will still another.”
The purpose and immediate end of Christian education is to cooperate with
divine grace in forming the true and perfect Christian.… For precisely this
reason Christian education takes the whole aggregate of human life, physical
and spiritual, intellectual and moral, individual, domestic and social, not with
a view of reducing it in any way, but in order to elevate, regulate and perfect
it, in accordance with the example and teaching of Christ.
—Pope Pius XI
65
The
child
should
not
b
e
regarded
as
a
feeble
Montessori
All children are born geniuses. 9999 out of every 10,000 are swiftly, inad-
vertently, degeniused by grown-ups. This happens because human beings are
The montessori educational system was developed by Dr. Montessori, a
born naked, helpless, and—though superbly equipped cerebrally—utterly
doctor not an educator, in response to her observation that much of the educational dogma
lacking inexperience, therefore utterly ignorant. Their delicate sensing
equipment is, as yet, untried. Born with build-in hunger, thirst, curiosity,
regarding children was based upon society’s (often false) preconceived notions of children.
the procreative urge, they can only learn what humanity has learned by trial
Many believed, from Christian dogma, that humans were innately evil and had to be saved
and error also endowed with self-deceiving pride. All those witnessing the
through baptism, which had led to authoritarian, rigidly controlling treatment of children.
errors of others proclaim that they (the witnesses) could have prevented those
errors had they only been consulted.… Motivated entirely by love, but also by
fear for the futures of the children they love, parents, in their ignorance, act
She approached a child with respect as another human being and developed her approach
from her observations.
as though they know all the answers and curtail the spontaneous exploratory
She developed what she saw as a basic truth; the extremely
acts of their children lest the children make “mistakes.” But genius does its
important role that childhood plays in the formation of the adult personal-
own thinking; it has confidence in its own exploratory findings, in its own
intuitions, in the knowledge gained from its own mistakes.
—Buckminster Fuller
ity. “At birth man is relatively immature compared with other primates. This
is a statement of fact. Consequently, part of the process of growth and development that these animals complete in the embryonic stage, man accomplishes in this postnatal state, when he is exposed to influences from the
The child should not be regarded as a feeble and helpless creature whose only
need is to be protected and helped, but as a spiritual embryo, possessed of an
active psychic life from the day that he is born and guided by subtle instincts
enabling him to actively build up the human personality. And since it is the
child who becomes the adult man, we must consider him as the true builder
outside world.” Thus nurture plays much of the role that instinct plays for
animals.
Freedom is an issue in Montessori system, as it is in the
Catholic system. The Montessori system allows children independence, but
of mankind .
then holds then responsible for their own actions. The balance between the
—Dr. Maria Montessori
freedom for the individual and the needs of the group is important in the
school setting, as it is in society, and is determined as much by the children
as by the adult. Punishment, very rarely meted out in Montessori schools, is
temporary isolation from the group. These measures are determined by the
social situation, and the child is allowed to rejoin the group when she
decides she is ready.
The system is highly concerned with not interfering unnec-
66
and
helpless
creature
whose
only
need
is to be
Some principles of Montessori education:
essarily with the children, especially with not allowing an adult to directly impose their wishes
• Education must help the child develop its personality in
accordance with its nature and possibilities, and at its
own rate, so that later it can fulfill its task as an independent, balanced human bing in the adult community.The aim, therefor, is always the formation of the
total personality, not of independent functions, or
processes.
upon the child. Montessori designed the educational materials of her system to help children
teach themselves. The teacher in a montessori school is called a director or directress, imply-
ing that they are merely there to guide the children. Obviously there is always some level of
control from the adult, but it is very much on a personal basis between the director and an
• Children want to become adults and, prompted by their
inner needs, strive to achieve this goal independently,
Education must assist them in this task of inner development. In order to offer them adequate help. it is
necessary to understand their psychic activity from
the point of view of this final aim.
individual child. The director will set up activities and allow the child to work through them.
In reading about this method, there is much talk about the development of
• The school must be a cultural environment, so that children have the opportunity to become familiar with
the basic aspects of their own culture.… Schools
must offer children this possibility for a cultural environment and enlarge their cultural horizon in such a
way that not only intellectual, but also spiritual development occurs.The spiritual core of man is already
present in children.…
skills, whether it be through the Didactic Apparatus—specially
designed materials for children to work with as part of their education—or assisting with the preparation and serving of meals.
Criticisms leveled at the system usually attack not so much the
• The Montessori material is constructed to appeal to
these inner needs. In addition, it offers children the
opportunity to work independently and to have their
own experiences with it. Since handling it demands
the coordination of different functions, the entire
personality is involved. However, one single property
is accentuated in each subdivision of the material. A
child is thus invited to direct its attention to a special
objective quality.The latter is so chosen that it is
attuned to a specific psychic activity and requires, at
the same time, specific actions for the manipulation of
the material.The material itself make the child aware
when something has not been done correctly. Its
intelligence is then challenged to find a better solution. In this way the ego functions are differentiated,
trained. and integrated without strain, more or less
playfully, while the child is stimulated to perform
meaningful acts.
ideas, but the execution of them. The skills learned from the mate-
rials are seen as not useful, or the method of learning the alphabet
is too rooted in the Romantic pronunciation of the letters. These
criticism seem to be missing the point entirely; the Montessori
materials are designed with the intention of giving the children
nonspecific knowledge which can be later applied to a specific situation. Maria Montessori explains it best:
“Imaginative vision is quite different from mere perception
of an object, for it has no limits.… To make it clear whether
or not a child has understood, we should see whether he
can form a vision of it within his mind, whether he has
gone beyond the level of mere understanding.… The secret
of good teaching is to regard the child’s intelligence as a
fertile field in which seeds may be sown, to grow under the
heat of flaming imagination. Our aim, therefore, is not
merely to make the child understand, and still less to force
him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to
enthuse him to his inmost core.”
• Montessori believed that the emphasis on the intellectual aspect of learning was largely wrong.The role of
the personality as a psychosomatic unity in the learning process must be fully acknowledged. No passive
absorption, but intelligent action is required. Learning
is a dynamic process in which the whole personality
of the child must be actively engaged.
• A free choice of activity, which confronts the child with
alternative and which therefor teaches it to become
independent, is a Montessori principle… Imposing the
some task on an entire group degrades an alternative
to a necessity.
(Montessori, Jr.)
67
Spatial
Future
into
the
light,
there
will
be
m
o
r
e
reason in
Students
5 classrooms, each with sink.
Approx. 30 students per classroom =
1 Chemistry, Physics and Biology Laboratory
and preparation room. Approx. 20 students =
1 Woodworking shop. Approx. 20 students per room =
1 Metalworking shop/Pottery studio, with furnace & kiln
Approx. 20 students =
Library, and librarian’s office =
Eurythmy and Music Room, and storage =
Assembly hall for 400 which doubles as the Indoor
recreation space, and storage =
Stage (could be incorporated with Eurythmy Rm.)
2 Locker Rooms and showers =
2 Student toilets @ 50 sf/fixture =
3000 sf
500 sf
1000 sf
1000 sf
1500 sf
900 sf
4800
800
1600
300
sf
sf
sf
sf
Teachers
1 Teachers’ Room including copiers, telephone,
storage, meeting table, lounge space=
1 office for flexible use =
1000 sf
100 sf
Administration
General office. Two people =
300 sf
Nurse’s room =
100 sf
Receiving, general supply, furniture, and book store room(s)= 400 sf
Toilet =
50 sf
Maintenance
Janitor’s room =
Janitorial supply room =
100 sf
100 sf
General
2 Staff/Public toilets =
1 Kitchen. 2 people =
Lobby =
Circulation spaces (15%) =
Programmatic
Requirements
Total =
68
100
400
400
2350
sf
sf
sf
sf
18,500 sf
Official basketball court dimensions can be used for the
layout. The gym must have storage areas for the chairs, a stage with a curtain
which would only be used for performances or could also be used as Music
and Eurythmy practice spaces. There will be some way to darken the space.
Building will be oriented for sun and wind control, so that
wind can be used to ventilate, and daylighting provides the
W
84’
50’
L
lighting needs for the space during daytime. It will have
access from the showers, classrooms, and parking and
Basketball court dimensions. Recommend space
around it: L=96’,W=79’
access from the community (for when it functions as a
theatre or community gathering space). A major concern
will be to deal with flexibility of use and function.
Recreation Facilities
Facilities needed for: Softball, baseball, football, volleyball.
Other sporting events would use facilities at another site. Large open spaces
are needed for field games. Currently, the lower school uses the “Red Field”,
which is at the bottom of the site and also functions as overflow parking. It
is smaller, though, than what an upper school would need.
Outdoor playing field may use grass, although this is
expensive in such a dry climate, and requires much maintenance. The school
Functional
this
then
in
the
laugh
w
h
i
c
h
greets
him
w
h
o
Assembly hall / Gymnasium
drainage.
Locker Rooms and Showers
These must put up with short bursts of very hard wear and
must be near the Gymnasium, and have sufficient lockers, showers and stalls
for 15 students of each gender. Particular concern should be paid to traffic
flow, realities of dressing clearances, supervision, lockers.
Classrooms
The classrooms need to have a large sink and counters
around for preparation of art materials, bookshelves, and wall space to attach
artwork. A classroom storage closet is needed for the teacher, as well as one
for miscellaneous materials. Space is needed at the front for the teacher’s
desk as well as for setting up audiovisual materials if needed. It should be
possible to darken the room to show slides. Space either inside or outside
the room must be provided for student lockers/cubbies/coatrack.
The minimum amount of chalk board is about 16 feet;
significantly more (to 32 feet) is recommended. There should be electrical
outlets on all walls. Doors should have some way for people to see in, such
as a vision panel, of wired glass for safety. Ceilings should be acoustically
treated, and additional measures to control noise should be considered.
Chemistry, Physics and Biology Laboratory
would not be interested in alternative (synthetic) materials for the surface,
not only because it will also function as a play area for the schools when it is
not in use for classes, many professional facilities are now removing the
substitute turfs because it tends to injure people using it. Must allow for
supervision of children by the teachers. Grading must be considered for
Activities will include lectures, demonstrations, viewing
projected materials, individual and group work. Attention should be paid to
the ability to darken the room. For physics experiments, the ability to hang
things from the ceiling is needed. There must be an adjacent preparation
69
Working Heights in inches for high school
children
Min.
room, a door out to the campus, a fume hood, a chalkboard. Counters
Opti- Max
should have sinks with dilution tanks, gas, ac and dc variable voltage elec-
mum
Cabinet, display (top)
77
Cabinet, display (bottom)
39
Cabinet, pupil use (top)
tricity outlets, and be acid-resistant and easy to wash and clean. There
should be a display case, teacher’s wardrobe and closet, storage spaces for
79
equipment, specimens and chemicals. There must be a locked cabinets for
Chairs and bench
14
16
18
Chalkboard (top)
80
82
84
Chalkboard (bottom & rail)
32
34
36
Coat hook
54
55
68
station. Storage and preparation room adjacent will have storage spaces for
32
36
39
bulk chemicals and books. It will need a sink, and gas and electricity also.
delicate equipment and dangerous chemicals, fire extinguishers and first aid
Counter :
classroom (standing)
general office
Desk and Table (classrm.)
32
42
49
24
27
29
Desk, typing
26
Door knob
Drinking fountain
Fire extinguisher (tank)
Hand rail & directional
31
42
49
This will be for the students to learn and practice
32
40
44
Eurythmy, and will need a piano and sound-tight doors. Because people are
recessed at basebd. ht.
32
33
32
35
38
Light switch
42
50
68
Mirror, lower edge
71
Panic bar
33
42
48
Pencil Sharpener
32
42
49
62
68
42
49
Shelf
Soap dispenser
32
Stool, drawing
acoustics must be considered, since Eurythmy will need a hard smooth floor.
Adjacency to the hall could be considered. Storage space is needed for
instruments and other equipment.
Woodworking Shop
29
Table, drawing
Here students will work mostly with hand tools. The facil-
39
Table & Bench (standing)
37
39
Tackboard (top)
72
84
Tackboard (bottom)
32
34
Telephone (wall mounted)
42
ity will need lots of work bench space as well as storage space for wood.
36
Metalworking Shop and Pottery Studio
52
Toilet stall, top of partition
69
Metalworking will need areas to work with different metals
37
42
68
4
4-19
24
such as copper, iron, and silver. Iron will need a forge and anvil, whereas
copper will need an area for its heating and acid treatment, as well as appro-
Wainscotting
60
60
60
Water closet (seat)
14.5
15
15
Window ledge
anything that needs peace and quiet! To be used as a music space, the
52
Mirror, upper edge
Urinal
moving about, and occasionally jumping, this space shouldn’t be above
48
Lavatory and sink
Towel dispenser
Eurythmy and Music room
priate work benches. Storage space for the teacher and materials is also
41
(DeChiara,Timesaver Standards)
needed. Pottery tends to be quite messy, and needs special sinks as well as
70
wheels, and kilns to fire it in. The kilns are preferably in a covered space
outside or have direct access to outside.
This is where the nurse will work, and also any curative
Eurythmy. It should be in a place easily accessible to emergency vehicles.
There must be space for both an examining room for the nurse, as well as a
room for Eurythmy. The latter could be substituted by adjacency to the
Library
Eurythmy room.
The center of learning. This place will not only house
Maintenance
books and slides and magazines, but also other educational materials, such
Janitor’s room and closet must have proximity to all the
as maps. It must have seating areas, an office for the librarian, and a control
desk for checkout of books.
classrooms and the administration office as well as the library and
Laboratories. It could be split up into multiple closets and supply rooms.
Teachers’ Room
This will be both the teachers’ lounge as well as the main
teachers’ office for meetings, and class preparation. It must have a copy
Kitchen
Kitchen will be for preparation of food and reheating
prepared food at lunches, and used by teachers and staff only.
machine, computer, storage space, teacher mail boxes, and telephone. A
large meeting table is also needed, as well as adjacency to the administration
offices.
Flexible use office
This is a small office which would be used by individual
faculty or administration for interviews, one-on-one meetings with other
teachers or other functions where privacy is needed.
General Office
This office will be an expansion of the current school
administration office and must be adjacent to it. It will have space for record
storage.
Nurse
71
Room
Documentation
72
rfrom
e t uabove
rns
out
of
the
light
into
the
den.
The room study was a continuation of the same
ideas that had surfaced in the initial concept study, namely not
imposing my thoughts on the materials, at least at first. It was much
harder to do with modeling materials. Scraps lying around, and
other found materials, were used to study the in-between spaces.
These are spaces where the social aspects of the high school would
be most evident. There needed to be some degree of privacy in
some places of it, but it also had to be in some place where people-
watching is possible. The circulation spaces always have these possi-
bilities. The Clinton school showed good use of these spaces;
lounges were placed in the circulation areas, allowing something
more friendly than corridors.
This appeared not, at first, to be a successful study;
the first model was becoming far too literal, so it was abandoned
immediately, and followed with something that was far the oppo-
site. It disobeyed all rules, or had none. No thought was put into
where or what was placed, and why? If scraps were found, they were
manipulated and put into place. This thing is just a random juxtaposition of materials, still not very effective at showing the social
vibrancy that teenagers have.
By altering the photographs, a far better picture
appeared of the feeling that was intended for the social spaces.
These spaces are festive, fun places that are colorful, and have a variety of different sized areas. The really non-material aspects of the
manipulated pictures allow many interpretations, among them a
sense of something possibly modern, electrical.
73
Plato,
The
R
e
p
u
b
l
i
c.
“
S
c
h
o
o
l
s
began
with
a
man
Daylighting and Environmental
Of primary importance is comfort and economy of use. Siting of buildings
and windows can greatly enhance or detract from these qualities. The free and wonderful
resources of sun and wind should be harnessed to help heat and ventilate all spaces.
Outdoor spaces are much more pleasant when south facing, and with a
balance of sun and shade, although shade from buildings has quite a different quality from,
for instance, tree shade.
By facing buildings to the south, many problems are allevi-
ated. Such a simple solution helps the building deal with heat gain and loss
and interior daylighting. Studies show that daylight, and its naturally vary-
ing intensities and cues to the outside, is a fundamental human need.
Humans’
circadian
rhythms
area
affected
by
the
cycles
of
daylight.(Alexander) Daylight does not effectively penetrate more than 15
feet into a space with normal ceiling heights, so without artificial lighting,
there is an approximately 25 foot limit to room depth.
When light comes from more than one direction, as in
when there are windows on more than one wall, contrasts of shadows are
reduced, and three dimensional shapes, for example facial expressions, are
more easily read. For this reason, communication between people is
improved when rooms have light on two sides. Glare, also, is reduced, since
wall surfaces adjacent to windows are lit by the other windows.(Alexander)
Lighting of chalkboards must be carefully considered in
this light, since reflections from windows make them totally unreadable.
Technical
Requirements
Typically, the reflections occur when there is only one light source at an
obtuse angle between the chalkboard and the viewer.
74
Above: Detail of clerestory which uses colored glass, or stained glass to filter
the light onto the ceiling and into the room.
Above right: Light on blackboard area, showing translucent ceiling and
colored downward–lighting.
Right:View of inside, showing how light could come through a movable
screen (brightly colored with small punctures, at left of picture). Behind the
screen would be south-facing windows.
75
under
a
tree
who
did
not
know
he
was
a
The purpose of this study model was to not only bring in
facing into a window: not a good solution.
light, but also to affect it. Using colored screens over the walls and below
In this case, a translucent screen, inspired by the shoji
the ceiling change the light as it enters; colors are in the light as it comes
screen, which could be moved as needed, is used to shield the room from
into the room and interact with the other colors in the room. Direct
unwanted glare while still providing light on the left side. Behind the screen
sunlight is not permitted to enter, but it may stream in occasionally if it
would be formed a separate space that would have much exposure to
wants to come through the stained patterned glass. Thus the sunlight would
sunlight and large operable glass doors for access to the outdoors. This space
no longer be a problem for people sitting in it; rather, they would be bathed
could form a heat storage area, or temperature balance, if concrete floors
in muted, colored light.
were used.
The issue of lighting a blackboard, without using artificial
What are the leaves? They have structural elements and
lighting, presents the problems of veiling reflections. Side lighting always
support colored, translucent skins. They could be interpreted various ways,
tends to cause these unwanted reflections making the board hard to see for
from calwal to canvas. This translucent material is used above the blackboard
some in the room. But so often classrooms have windows at the side so
to avoid glare. The same light treatment is used over some of the south
students and the teacher can see outside. Since adolescents are often so
facing windows, and could be considered curtains or a type of blind to
involved with what is happening outside the classroom, maybe it is better to
moderate the light.
put the windows behind the students. Then the teacher is forced to lecture
The goal of the lighting study was to completely daylight
the interior of the classroom so that electrical lighting does not have to be
used except in rare cases. The use of colored material above the blackboard
could be a problem, since all colors on the board will affected by it. The
current elementary school classrooms are very effective at lighting the inside
of the classroom, although they do allow direct sunlight into the room
through large skylights.
Daylighting
Solution
76
Structurally, this school will show the framing system, its bones,
instead of hiding them. In order to leave the structure exposed, an inherently fire resistant construction technique should be used, such as All concrete, heavy timber frame,
or Mill construction. Considering the climate in Santa Cruz, all concrete construction
may make the atmosphere cold inside, even though it is very durable. Construction
time is quite significant for all-concrete construction. Mill and heavy timber framing
have high resistance to fire and are very strong. This method of framing will require
quite regular forms, although glulams have some definite
expressive capabilities. The integration of Mechanical and
Electrical systems into the framing will require particular
thought. A 2– or 4–ft module is recommended for planning.
(Allen)
Glulam beams have span ranges up to 100’
Loadings will be from approx. 40 psf for classrooms to
80 psf for Assembly, &
130 psf for Shop areas.
Lateral load resisting system:
Options are Braced frame or Shear walls of either
plywood sheathing or Masonry or concrete.
77
Structural
Requirements
teacher
Circulation must be integrated from the point property line to when they
are in the buildings and moving through them. The major concern in schools is safety, especially for the Lower school. The site layout puts the lower school between the road and the
upper school, forcing circulation either through or around the bottom of it. It is generally
recommended to: Separate the different types of circulation; Eliminate or minimize cross traf-
A person must be able to explain any given address within the building, to
any other person, who does not know his way around, in one sentence.”
—Christopher Alexander, A Pattern Language.
fic between pedestrians and vehicles; separate drop-off areas for busses and automobiles;
service vehicles should be separated from the drop-off areas. Parking must take into account
all the uses it will have: daytime visitors, parents, faculty, and students;
special events will need overflow parking capacity, which could be paved play
areas.
Circulation is made simpler by clear orientation within and
without the building. Alexander recommends organizing circulation by
discussing
reference points, and by a “nested series of realms.”
Busses
There is currently a bus stop at the entrance to the school property. While
this is convenient for the bus circulation, it forces pedestrians to cross the
parking areas for the lower school. The school bus must have some safe place
Circulation
to drop off children.
78
Design Process
his
realization
with
adid
few who
not
know they
Transition of Words to Form
So, the hardest part. How to find the form of the building. Of course, none
of the following mental dialog directly leads to the form of the building, but it may clarify
what the significant issues involved in the project’s conception were.
What is important here? A major point is about the social aspects of being
at that age. What works well for students is that they have a regular schedule which
makes the social times obvious. Lunch and any other break are times when the social
skills are developed. But what is the purpose of this place? It would be the Waldorf
purpose: to educate head, heart and hands. This threeaspect is seen as important. Vital. How to express the threefold working process/ threefold learning process? Learning
as a process.
Also, finding ones place in the world…
So, there is this three-way process, and a school has
to be a place of learning. For learning. And the weirdness
of this school is that the learning should not be of the traditional sense (senses?) Or maybe it will.
Why do they have classes? So that one teacher
(under a tree?) can talk with a large number of students.
So it has been an efficient way to learn.
And now there is the computer. Is it relevant? By
learning, we have two images; there is the one that Kahn
presents, of a teacher, with wise things to say, teaching
students who came to learn. Then there is learning as an
active process; it involves actually seeking out what one
wants to learn. An individual process, a search. But there
must be direction. And most people, in fact almost all, will
just vegetate, not search. There needs to be a push. I keep
coming back, though, to the idea of seeking out what is individual in each person. Seeking out one’s potentialities. This
is a search undertaken by oneself. How can others see someone’s potential?
79
w
e
r
e
sTt u d he n t se.
sr et u
d
e
n
t
s
flected
So, site plan, another problem. I cannot merely grid this.
The grid: such a fallback. What other organizing systems are there
that are as all-embracing? There are minor things, like site edges, the
edge spaces defining a place, so the center of the site does not get eaten
up, and the building acts as its own fence. The state on the North side
of the lot allows that. Organic forms rely on some sort of complex
proportion to relate the parts together. Bow about the human? What
if I were a building’s size? Where would I sit on the site? Not really
fundamentally related or looked at.
Obviously, there is an underlying desire in people to do one
thing over others. What about “laziness”? Is that a factor in
anything? Could laziness be translated to lack of interest? And am
I looking for a way to stimulate/create an interest inside an individual through architecture?
The problem also goes back to a fundamental approach.
What is one looking for? What are the positive things? What is
actively searched out? Educational, social developmental needs.
Damn. Quite a thing to say, but, actually, what are they?
Developmental?
But if there is an institution which involves a three-fold
approach to learning, and also allowed residential, and allowed
much opportunity to try out the ideas one learned, how would it look?
Progression from child to
adult
Other people exist in this
world, too.
finding ‘place’ in life, path.
Head, Heart and Hands.
So, can the space be categorized by Head (academic learning—classrooms), Heart (what? Art? Social interaction? Eurythmy
or physical activities? Music?), Hands (well, where it is applied?
Performance? Science laboratories and wood and ceramics and
metalworking?) So it sounds like I am back to a third year project,
to design a research center for an artist, a philosopher and a scientist. Who was the head? Scientist. Heart? Artist. Soul? Philosopher.
But everything is everything. I cannot apply some judgment to, for instance art, and say it is all heart, ‘cause it is not. But
maybe there is a stronger correlation with one part than another?
There is, also—as an aside to all this—the additional issue of elevating students. Hmmm. Well, if there is a stronger correlation in one
place, that’s fine, but it cold also be used for something else. Then the
form becomes meaningless. So, this place is about a three part learning process. Maybe each space needs to look at how it relates to this
trifoldness. Grand and wordy, eh?
80
Social?
formation of friendships
(are they different than
childhood ones?)
Sexuality
Progression: conformity
(w/friends & peers) to
nonconformity (with previous generation)
Educational?
Finding focus in interests
Learn college preparatory
information, basic academic
subjects (affiliation with
Junior college?)
So we have two sets of three aspects that are extremely
important. Not only… Head/heart/hands applies to educational.
But this is, by definition, an educational institution. What about
residential? And developmental?
Social requires some degree of adult control and guidance.
I am absolutely not proposing removing adult guidance. That I see
as fundamental to high school, still. Part of the progression of total
dependence (fetus) to total independence (does this happen before
death? We always have a reliance on other human beings. The world
must be seen as a place of mutual support. Gosh, another subject.
So, we are back to the form issue. Also a siting one. Earlier
in the book, I started calling this an adolescents’ community for
coming of age. Sounds so new age, clichéd. I think it may need to be
on
what
w
a
s
exchanged
and
how
good it was
looked at as a community center, though. How does this develop? A
community center, on this little site in the middle of nowhere. How is
this a community? What is at issue is maybe the conception that there
needs to be a community center. How would the school feel about
youth who do not go to school there using the place? If it is truly a
community center, how would young people get there? The bus system
is so infrequent (probably every hour from 7 am to 6 pm, or maybe
less than that, considering it is a rural route). So that’s why there
needs to be residence places for the students.
So they live there. What’s so different about that? Many
would absolutely hate that. That does not necessarily make this a
community center. Why am I trying to make a community center,
anyway? From the understanding that a school needs to be one. Why?
If it is not, then there is no involvement in young people by more than
just the students’ parents. If that. But these students are a strange
chunk of the population. They are from at least very privileged households, or places where the parents are really interested in their children’s growth both intellectually and emotionally. Emotional
growth? All these catch phrases. Get to the root of them, I suppose?
So, what of form and placement issues? Just saw the structural forum thing. Very little talk about form finding. What pushes
form-finding? Preconceptions often push things, which is something
this project has tried desperately to avoid. Also, physical needs of a site
or program. Then there is the issue of a meaning, and how it is
approached. How does one get down and dig out the essential background for the meaning? A depth of understanding? But one must
go beyond even understanding. There is a jump. We all look for it; Is
it too late to make a jump? Do I know too much already? Huh?
Thinking more about the head, heart, hands thing. That
is not fundamental to any design issues. I need to paste them up here.
So, how is education expressible? Looking to Kahn’s statement, of people under a tree, it looks like a fundamental human
need to unlock the secrets of the world around, and of oneself. And to
rely on the knowledge of wise people is to build on the past. But we
must know the past to build on it.
The idea of progress. Progress requires education, but is a
81
to
be
in
the
presence
of
this
man.
T
h
e
y
aspired that
result of actual applications, hands. Idea spaces, creation spaces. Art
is often associated with the heart, with expression of feeling. The three
aspects are all part of developmental. How could it be anything but
development? So, it is educational and social development. What did
I mean by developmental? I see the progression, growth of the individual needing adaptation of the environment. Obviously there are
size issues, but these are minor. Are the needs of an eighteen-year-old
different from a fourteen-year-old? Of course. A fourteen-year-old
will be concerned with different things.
From the curriculum stuff: 9th grade looks at ‘how’
rather than ‘what.’ “How does it work?” Seen as ‘latent idealism’ at
this age group, and attempting to foster this. In the top two grades,
the concern is ‘what’.
Form finally started to develop when the idea of growing,
of becoming older, was seen in context of the world and life overall.
Through looking at adolescence as a birth into the adult world, the conception of the school as an egg developed. This project can be seen as an expres-
sion of birth from the earth, a reference to the nearby San Andreas fault line
as well as the broken shells of a hatching bird. The school is organized so
the classrooms are protected under pieces of a strong shell which in places
are partly buried in the earth or sheltered by the surrounding trees, around
two large social spaces from which the students test their wings in the world
and develop their connections to it and one another. Overlaid are the adjacency issues relating to the lower school, and the sloping of the site.
The first concept sketches show a regular form—the school
in a circular shape, as if imitating the clearings in which the younger children
say the fairies play—with a quite different form for the students’ residences
rising out of it. The eye-like shape in plan was initially accidental, but then
seen as appropriate. Finally, it disappeared as the students’ residential areas
were omitted from the program.
What was initially an almost rational engineering solution
to the form of the building rapidly diverged as it was tested against the
concept of birth from the earth. The from was broken repeatedly, just leaving the circle still etched into the ground around the whole upper school.
The spaces sheltered under broken pieces of roof.
82
83
Documentation
of Process
Right:This is the first concept drawing of the
school. It is a very regular, closed-form building to
allow an elegant structural solution
84
The project was designed in model form.This is the first study model, showing the structural system of a ridge beam with ribs to support a shell-roof.
Immediately the project brought to mind skeletons (specifically dinosaur
skeletons!) Using ribs to represent the roof surface made it difficult for
people to visualize how the form would be once the roof was on, but
provided the benefit that one could see inside to work out the interior
spaces.The adjacencies were almost completely worked out in this model.
To make floor plans and sections, the model was
digitized and the projected views were printed
out from a 3d modeling program. At this point,
the stage still faced out of the center of the plan
and had a Eurythmy room above it.The idea was
to take advantage of the views out over the trees,
as well as under them in the classrooms.
85
locker rooms,
science room,
nurse,
mechanical
community hall
Adjacency:
Since many facilities must be shared between upper and
lower schools, their placement relative to the existing
school had to be considered, as well as the affect upon the
high school’s sense of community.The community hall,
largest of all the spaces, was to be shared, as well as the
library, woodworking shop, teachers’ room, and possibly
the music and Eurythmy room, although the current lower
school already has the last two. Administrative offices
were placed near to the teachers’ room and the existing
administration offices.The nurse’s room was placed near
to both the community hall and the Eurythmy room.
Separation between the science room and the other buildings was made since this space would potentially be storing poisonous and flammable chemicals. Locker rooms
were tucked away, but still near to an entrance to the
community hall.Typically they are integrated with the
gymnasium, but here they were separated to help with
circulation through and around the community hall.This
may not have been the best solution.
A student study area overlooks the library and front
lobby, allowing high school students’ favorite pastime also;
people watching..
library
metalwork and
ceramics
teachers’ room
stage
administration
classroom
Four classrooms are grouped in a separate structure
which houses art studios upstairs as well as a supplementary classroom, a student lounge area, and a metals and
ceramics workshop.The latter were grouped because of
their need for an open outside area for kilns as well as the
forge and were situated well within the high school area
since they would not be used by the lower school.The
uses within the room are separated by shelving and a wall
for storing student projects.This organization has the
potential of causing problems if two classes were running
at the same time.
woodwork
86
Transverse and longitudinal sections, showing
the concave community hall roof which was
changed to convex for better sound distribution.
87
Above:Very large skylights in the art studios light those rooms with varying
light on both north and south sides.This is not the traditional lighting of an
art studio, but provides a direct connection with the time qualities of light.
Excessive light may be controlled with curtains. Daylighting was attempted
for all the rooms, and the classrooms have light from windows on one side
and glazing in the art studio floors at the other wall.
Below: view of balcony area outside teachers’ room, showing how the roof
plunges into the ground.
88
89
Critique comments
There was concern about the lack of seating at the sides of
the community hall as well what seemed like not enough response to the
site. The suggestion was to break apart more, since this project seems so
monolithic compared to the broken up organization of the existing school.
This is a cleft in the landscape, but it is not really expressed as such. The use
of contour lines to organize the project could be taken further by cutting
90
roof and plan.
Also, the recommendation was to look at movement
through the project. Currently, it appears to not be celebrated, since there
is no transition between inside and outside. The way the south side sits
under the tree canopy was appreciated.
91
The final model solved many of the problems
stated in the critique, such as creating an opening at the side of the community hall for seating
during basketball games.The floor plan was
broken up more, using the contour lines of the
hillside as a grid, and levels inside the building
were made to change more to make the spaces
more exciting
Model
Documentation
92
93
94
their
sons
also
listen
to
such
a
man.
Soon
spaces were
Above: view at entrance to high school.
Left:View of art studios above the classrooms.
95
erected
and
the
first
sb ce hc ao m
o el s.
The estab96
lishment
of
school
was
inevitable
because
it
was part of
97
the
desires
of
man.…
The
entire
system
of
schools
98
Conclusion
At one point, it seemed that the project was moving away from the idea of
a traditional high school, into a rather new-age description of an “Adolescents’ Community
for Coming of Age.” So, what is in a name? I think the point was that, at that point, I did
not want to call it a high school, but in fact it was just semantics; what else is a high school?
There was also the goal of finding an expression for the form of the building that did not directly copy the form language of Rudolf Steiner’s Goetheanum. Did I?
That depends who you ask. There was no similarity at all until the roof went onto the framework. Suddenly, the project appeared to be exactly the same as all
the other Waldorf schools: lost in the powerful influence of the
Goetheanum. It is a high goal, to strive to find a form language for
a particular project, in this case the search for a fundamental essence
of a Waldorf high school. It is appropriate then, that this thesis is
not a total success; the creation of form based upon abstracting and
representing concepts that are purely non physical, that in fact
attempt to represent the ethereal, and so are abstractions and representations themselves is not a year project!
What was most interesting was to hear what
people associated the building with as it was made. Along its many
mutations it moved from female genitalia to dinosaur bones to
tortoise shell to fish scales to a bird’s beak to Rudolf Steiner’s architecture. But our built world is so tied up in the rectilinear that once
there is a departure from it in architectural form we immediately
associate it with the purely non rectilinear, highly complex and non
arbitrary forms of nature. This project was a valiant attempt to find
physical form for the passage of childhood to adulthood, and, as
such, I see it as a good start.
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Appendix
tf o lhl o wa e dt
from
the
beginning
would not
Alexander, Christopher, Sara Ishikawa and Murray Silverstein, et. al. A Pattern Language,
Oxford University Press, New York, 1977
Allen, Edward, and Joseph Iano. The Architect’s Studio Companion, John Wiley and Sons,
New York, 1989
Architectural League of New York, et al. New Schools for New York, Princeton Architectural
Press, New York, 1992
Biesantz, Hagen and Arne Klingborg. The Goetheanum: Rudolf Steiner’s Architectural
Impulse, Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1979
Carlgren, Franz, with Arne Klingborg, Joan and Siegfried Rudel (trans.) Rudolf Steiner and
Anthroposophy, Philosophic–Anthroposophic Press, Dornach, Switzerland, 1990
DeCiara, Joseph and John Callender. Timesaver Standards for Building Types, 3rd Ed.,
McGraw Hill, New York, 1990
DeWitt, Dennis J. and Elizabeth DeWitt. Modern Architecture in Europe, E.P.Dutton, New
York, 1987
Day, Christopher. Places of the Soul: Architecture and Environmental Design as a Healing Art,
The Aquarian Press, Northamptonshire, England, 1990
Dix, Thomas. “The Spirit of Concrete.” Progressive Architecture (February 1994): 66-69
Dudek, Mark. Kindergarten Architecture, E & F N Spon, London, 1996
Graves, Ben E. School Ways, Architectural Record/McGraw–Hill, New York, 1993
Harwood, A. C. The Recovery of Man in Childhood, Anthroposophic Press, New York,1958
Henson, Kenneth T. Secondary Teaching Methods, Heath and Company, Massachusetts, 1981
Holcomb, John H. A Guide to the Planning of Educational Facilities, University Press of
America, Lanham, Maryland, 1995
Kilpatrick, William Heard. The Montessori System Examined, Arno Press & The New York
Times, New York, 1971
Kroner, Walter. Architektur für Kinder, Krämer, Zurich, 1994
McCoy, Raymond F. American School Administration, Public and Catholic, McGraw–Hill,
New York, 1961
Montessori, Mario M. Education for Human Development, Schocken Books, New York, 1976
Raab, Rex. Eloquent Concrete, Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1979
Bibliography
100
have
been
possible
if
the
beginning
were
not
in
Redden, John and Francis Ryan. A Catholic Philosophy of Education, The Bruce Publishing
Company, Milwaukee, 1956
Steiner, Rudolf. Discussions With Teachers, Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1967
Trager, James. The People’s Chronology, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1992
Uniform Building Code: Volume 1, Administrative, Fire– and Life–Safety, and Field Inspection
Provisions, International Conference of Building Officials, Whittier, California, 1994
Wilkinson, Roy. The Temperaments in Education, Rudolf Steiner College Press, Fair Oaks,
CA, 1983
www Sites
Anthroposophy at Work, http://www.io.com/~lefty/Brochure.html
Goetheanum in Dornach, The, http://www.goetheanum.ch/orte/egoethen.htm
Spirit of the Waldorf School, http://www2.psyber.com/~bobnancy/gaindex/ga297.html
Steiner-Waldorf Education in a Nutshell, http://www.compulink.co.uk/~waldorf
UCSC Home Page, http://www.ucsc.edu/public/index.htm
Waldorf Education, http://www.io.com/~cradock/wald-ed.html
101